Efecto precio e ingreso en el consumo de bienes adictivos en México : un análisis espacial

The main purpose of this research is to prove if the price of the addictive substances and the consumer's income are determinants of the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and cocaine in Mexico. The contribution of this work is supported by the different way of consumption, addictive or not, applying longitudinal panel model in order to consider time series and cross - section to the data set to prove Becker, Grossman and Murphy's (1991) "economic rationality" theory on addictive behaviors hypothesis. The results show that alcohol consumption responds on changes on consumer's income. The tobacco consumption decreases if its price arises and its demand increases in the same way that consumer's income. Related to Marijuana and Cocaine, price elasticities are zero while an increase in consumer's income increases too de substances demand. Concluding remarks show that economic factors as price and income are irrelevant for cocaine and marijuana consumption, in this sense, legalization constitutes a best way to control their production, distribution and consumption.