PAPER: Mexico - smoking ban no significant effect on restuarants' income, employees' wages and levels of employment..

February 4, 2011 - Mexico City implemented smoke-free legislation April 2008. This study is the first to evaluate the economic impact of the law, using a detailed dataset and appropriate econometric techniques. The study provides timely information for tobacco control efforts in Mexico and adds to the scarce literature on the economic impact of smoke-free laws in low and middle-income countries.

PAPER: The economic impact of Mexico City's smoke-free law, Carlos Manuel Guerrero López, Jorge Alberto Jiménez Ruiz1, Luz Myriam Reynales Shigematsu1, Hugh R Waters (waters@rand.org), Tob Control doi:10.1136/tc.2010.036467, ABSTRACT/FULL TEXT

There is no statistically significant evidence that the Mexico City smoke-free law had a negative impact on restaurants' income, employees' wages and levels of employment. On the contrary, the results show a positive, though statistically non-significant, impact of the law on most of these outcomes. Mexico City's experience suggests that smoke-free laws in Mexico and elsewhere will not hurt economic productivity in the restaurant and bar industries.