| Young people are psychologically immature, and are easy to be influenced by others to engage in risky behaviors. Based on the data from the NLSY79, this dissertation examines how maternal smoking, sibling smoking, and living in urban and rural areas impact on youth smoking decisions.;In chapter 3, we examine the effects of a mother's smoking when a child is young on that child's subsequent experimentation with smoking, investigating differences by race, gender, and cigarette access restrictions. The results show that maternal smoking in childhood predicts a 9 percentage point increase in the probability that a youth experiments with smoking by age 18. The results suggest that anti-smoking interventions aimed at parents may be effective for reducing youth smoking, especially among non-black populations and in high-tax states.;In chapter 4, we investigate the sibling effect on youth experimental and daily smoking by age 18. We assume that no matter who smoked first, whether the older or younger sibling, the first smoker has an impact on the following smoker, but not vice versa. We detect a smaller positive sibling effect on daily smoking than previous research and a negative sibling effect on experimental smoking. Although the estimates are biased due to unobserved variables, the biases are proved upward.;In chapter 5, we test the in influences of living in urban areas on youth smoking by age 18. The results show that living in urban areas increases the probability of daily smoking by 4-10 percentage points than living in rural areas does. Especially, the influence is significant for non-black respondents and the respondents living in tobacco producing states. The price effects on daily smoking are larger for non-black youths and the respondents who had ever lived in urban areas. |
