The Effect of Comprehensive Smoking Bans in European Workplaces

Abstract Many European countries have recently implemented comprehensive smoking bans to reduce exposure to tobacco smoke in public places and all indoor workplaces. We use a difference-in-differences approach and comparable microdata for a number of European countries to evaluate the impact of national comprehensive smoking bans on workers’ perceived health. Results show that the introduction of comprehensive smoking bans has a significant effect on the probability of both exposure to smoke and work-related respiratory problems. We also highlight unintended effects in terms of mental distress. The impact across countries is shown to vary with the degree of strictness of the bans.