Teacher Smoking, School Level Policies and Adolescent Smoking in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

This paper examines the association between teacher smoking at school and student smoking. A growing literature estimates the impact of social influences on youth smoking and finds that youths are more likely to participate in risky behaviors when these risky behaviors are prevalent in their social networks.  This paper links data from the Global School Personnel Survey and Global Youth Tobacco Survey, two surveys that monitor tobacco use among youths and their school environments in low- and middle-income countries, and estimate the impact of smoking by teachers on student smoking behaviors. While there is a literature that examines the relationship between teacher smoking and adolescent smoking in high income countries, no study examines this link in developing countries where smoking is on the rise. The analysis also measures the effect that school level curricula and tobacco control policies exert on youth smoking. The findings of this paper have the potential of informing policy on the impact of teacher smoking and school level policies on youth smoking.