In this paper, we estimate the economic impact of the Italian smoking ban of 2005 on some activities of the catering sector. We use the quasi-experimental design induced by the introduction of the smoking ban in Italy to compare sales, profits and employment in cafès and restaurants located in...

We estimate the economic impact of the Italian smoking ban of 2005 on the catering sector using a quasi-experimental design. Our study indicates that the Italian smoking ban had a slight negative impact on sales of cafés and restaurants but had no effect on profits, earnings, or employment.