Tobacco-Control Policy Instruments in a Shrinking World: How Much Policy Learning?*

Tobacco control is a relatively new issue on the international political agenda, but one whose importance has grown dramatically over the past quarter century. Before themid-1980s, there were only a handful of countries in which tobacco-control policy was the subject of government legislation and regulation rather than voluntary agreements between the tobacco industry and the government, or sometimes only among tobacco companies themselves. Furthermore, domestic tobacco leaf-growing often was encouraged by governments through various subsidies in the form of tariff barriers, research assistance, and loans.