engleski

Impacts of the illicit tobacco trade: Exploring public perception in the Western Balkan region

The aim of this paper is to examine the attitudes of respondents from seven countries on the Balkan tobacco smuggling route on the impact of grey market of tobacco products on society and what are the factors influencing the differences in their attitudes. Tobacco smuggling is a source of funding for criminal activities, but it also poses a health risk, increase unemployment, causes damage to the state budgets and weaken the sustainability of public finances. Therefore, it has significant impacts on national economies. Periods of economic crises and other economically demanding times, such as this caused by a pandemic of COVID-19, which result in rising unemployment and declining purchasing power, are specially favourable periods for the growth of illegal trade in tobacco products and grey market of tobacco products. The results indicate significant differences between citizens in different countries about their perception towards the grey market of tobacco products.

tobacco, smuggling, grey economy, Western Balkan countries

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