Examining the economic impact of a clean indoor air act

Background: Pennsylvania's Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA) took effect September 2008. Numerous stakeholders- legislators, media, and businesses– expressed interest in understanding economic impact on bars and restaurants subsequent to legislation. The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) funded the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco to conduct a CIAA Economic Impact Study. Methods: Impact analysis used two primary data sets: county-level quarterly taxable sales in eating and drinking establishments for 2002-2009 obtained from the Department of Revenue; and CIAA exception records for 2008-2009 obtained from DOH. Prais-Winsten regressions were employed to assess effects of CIAA and law exceptions on taxable sales in restaurants and drinking establishments. Regressions controlled for general economic activity, trends in eating/drinking establishment sales, seasonality, fixed county characteristics, and urbanicity. Findings: CIAA had no significant effect on taxable sales in full/limited service restaurants or bars; county exception rate did not change this relationship. Restaurant and bar taxable sales were strongly related to overall economic conditions; sales increased with overall economic activity and vice-versa. Seasonality played a significant role on bar and restaurant taxable sales. Findings from this study are consistent with findings from a large/growing set of peer-reviewed studies for other jurisdictions concluding smoke-free policies have no negative effects on economic activity in eating and drinking establishments. Discussion: Pennsylvania's 2008 CIAA had no negative economic impact on full/limited service restaurants or drinking establishments. Pennsylvania's CIAA is not comprehensive; consequently, study findings can inform efforts to update CIAA to protect more Pennsylvanians from the dangers of secondhand smoke.