Wikipedia

Draft:Michael F. Pesko

Michael F. Pesko (born 1984) is an American economist specializing in health economics and public policy whose research uses natural experiments and quasi-experimental methods to study the effects of public policy on health behaviors and economic outcomes, with applications including tobacco control and audiology.[1][2] He is the J. Rhoads Foster Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri and Director of the Social Impact Lab.[1][3] His reach has appeared in journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Health Economics, and Journal of Human Resources.[4][5][6][7] He has engaged with policymakers on tobacco-related issues and has been involved in promoting open science initiatives.[8][9]

Early life and education

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Pesko earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, English, and Management from Hamline University.[10][11] While an undergraduate, he played football and was elected Vice President of the Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress, the university’s student government.[10]

Pesko subsequently completed a Master of Arts in Economics in 2010 and a Ph.D. in Economics in 2012 at the University of Illinois Chicago.[12] In a 2021 interview, Pesko said that his “main exposure to tobacco” as a teenager came from working at a fast-food restaurant, where he observed peers smoking.[13] In the same interview, he described working with health economist Frank Chaloupka during his doctoral studies, which he cited as an early influence on his decision to pursue tobacco control research.[13]

Academic career

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Pesko joined the University of Missouri in 2023, where he holds a tenured appointment as the J. Rhoads Foster Professor of Economics.[1] He also serves as Director of the Social Impact Lab, a multidisciplinary research initiative focused on evidence-based public policy, and directs the Tobacco Online Policy Seminar.[3][14]

Prior to joining the University of Missouri, Pesko was a faculty member at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.[15] Earlier in his career, he held academic appointments at Weill Cornell Medical College and was an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health.[16][17]

Research

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Pesko’s academic research examines the causal effects of public policy on health behaviors and economic outcomes, with a primary focus on tobacco policy in particular.[2][5] He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed articles in economics, health policy, and medical journals.[1] His research has been supported by more than $10 million in external funding from government and public health organization sources, including as principal investigator on multiple National Institutes of Health R01 grants and American Cancer Society Research Scholar awards.[1] According to Google Scholar, his work has been cited over 3,500 times.[18]

His findings have contributed to policy debates on the unintended consequences of tobacco regulation.[19][20] His work has found, for example, that electronic cigarette taxes increase cigarette sales and cigarette use for children, young adults, adults, and pregnant women.[5][19][21][22][23] His work has identified examples of e-cigarette regulation increasing mortality.[24][25]

Beyond tobacco policy, Pesko has published research on labor and health policy, including studies on paid sick leave mandates and hearing healthcare.[4][7][26][27][28][29]

Selected research

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  • Cotti C, Courtemanche C, Maclean JC, Nesson E, Pesko MF, Tefft NW. The effects of e-cigarette taxes on e-cigarette prices and tobacco product sales: Evidence from retail panel data. J Health Econ. 2022 September 5.[5]
  • Abouk R, Courtemanche C, Dave D, Feng B, Friedman AS, Maclean JC, Pesko MF, Sabia JJ, Safford S. Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use. J Health Econ. 2022 December 15.[19]
  • Callison K, Pesko MF. The Effect of Paid Sick Leave Mandates on Coverage, Work Absences, and Presenteeism. J Hum Resour. 2020 May 12.[7]
  • Callison K, Pesko MF, Phillips S, Sosa JA. Cancer Screening after the Adoption of Paid-Sick-Leave Mandates. N Engl J Med. 2023 March 2.[4]
  • Casalino LP, Pesko MF, Ryan AM, Mendelsohn JL, Copeland KR, Ramsay PP, Sun X, Rittenhouse DR, Shortell SM. Small primary care physician practices have low rates of preventable hospital admissions. Health Aff (Millwood). 2014 August 13.[30]
  • Ryan AM, Burgess JF Jr, Pesko MF, Borden WB, Dimick JB. The early effects of Medicare's mandatory hospital pay-for-performance program. Health Serv Res. 2014 July 15.[31]
  • Cooper MT, Pesko MF. The effect of e-cigarette indoor vaping restrictions on adult prenatal smoking and birth outcomes. J Health Econ. 2017 October 16[32]
  • Pesko MF, Currie JM. E-cigarette minimum legal sale age laws and traditional cigarette use among rural pregnant teenagers. J Health Econ. 2019 May 13.[33]
  • Friedman AS, Pesko MF, Whitacre TR. Flavored E-Cigarette Sales Restrictions and Young Adult Tobacco Use. JAMA Health Forum. 2024 December 6.[34]

Public service and policy engagement

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He is the Director of the Tobacco Online Policy Seminar (TOPS), an international, multidisciplinary forum for research using experimental and quasi-experimental designs to inform tobacco policy.[14] He also served as a member of the Health Canada Scientific Advisory Board on Vaping Products.[35] Additionally, he has provided expert witness testimony on behalf of plaintiffs in litigation against tobacco manufacturers.[36]

Tobacco policy perspectives

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Pesko has criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s messaging regarding e-cigarettes.[8][37][38] In 2021, he led a national effort with Tom Miller, then-Attorney General of Iowa, and 75 public health experts—including the deans of public health at New York University, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University—to petition the CDC to rename “E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury” (EVALI).[37] The petitioners argued the term was a misnomer because the 2019 outbreak was caused by THC vapes rather than nicotine e-cigarettes.[8] Pesko contended that the terminology misled the public and discouraged smokers from switching to less harmful alternatives, stating in a 2022 interview that the miscommunication was "actually killing people."[38]

Pesko has advocated for no or low e-cigarette taxation in public commentary.[39][40] His work has estimated that a tax on e-cigarettes equivalent cigarettes would result in 2.5 million additional adult cigarette smokers in the United States.[41] Citing the lower risk profile of e-cigarettes compared to combustible tobacco, Pesko has suggested that it is 'reasonable to consider subsidizing' e-cigarettes for long-term smokers who have not quit through other means.[42]

Pesko co-authored an editorial discussing the historical context of electronic cigarettes and sharing his view that their emergence produced net public health benefits.[43]

Open science and data access

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Pesko is a proponent of open science and research transparency. He authored a monograph for the Journal of the National Cancer Institute examining strategies to increase data access for evaluating public policies while maintaining data security.[9] He has advocated for the use of publicly registered pre-analysis plans and has made lab policy data from the Social Impact Lab publicly available through OpenICPSR and other repositories to encourage reproducible research.[44][45][46][47] He was appointed to the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Health Statistics and stated his intention to advocate for protecting and expanding research data access.[48][49]

Recognition

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In 2014, Pesko was named to Forbes 30 Under 30.[50]

In 2016, he was named an American Cancer Society Research Scholar.[1]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "University of Missouri College of Arts and Science Economics".
  2. 1 2 "Michael Pesko | IZA - Institute of Labor Economics". www.iza.org. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  3. 1 2 "Social Impact Lab | Economics - Economics". economics.missouri.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  4. 1 2 3 "The New England Journal of Medicine". www.nejm.org. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa2209197. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Cotti, Chad; Courtemanche, Charles; Maclean, Joanna Catherine; Nesson, Erik; Pesko, Michael F.; Tefft, Nathan W. (2022-12-01). "The effects of e-cigarette taxes on e-cigarette prices and tobacco product sales: Evidence from retail panel data". Journal of Health Economics. 86: 102676. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102676. ISSN 0167-6296. PMC 11268994. PMID 36103752.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  6. ↑ Farin, Sherajum Monira; Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren; Pesko, Michael F. (August 2024). "The Impact of Legal Abortion on Maternal Mortality". American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. 16 (3): 174–216. doi:10.1257/pol.20220208. ISSN 1945-7731.
  7. 1 2 3 Callison, Kevin; Pesko, Michael F. (2022-07-01). "The Effect of Paid Sick Leave Mandates on Coverage, Work Absences, and Presenteeism". Journal of Human Resources. 57 (4): 1178–1208. doi:10.3368/jhr.57.4.1017-9124R2. ISSN 0022-166X.
  8. 1 2 3 Pesko, Michael F.; Cummings, K. Michael; Douglas, Clifford E.; Foulds, Jonathan; Miller, Thomas; Rigotti, Nancy A.; Warner, Kenneth E. (December 12, 2022). "United States public health officials need to correct e‐cigarette health misinformation". Addiction. 118 (5): 785–788. doi:10.1111/add.16097. ISSN 0965-2140.
  9. 1 2 Pesko, Michael F (2022-07-05). "How Data Security Concerns Can Hinder Natural Experiment Research: Background and Potential Solutions". JNCI Monographs. 2022 (59): 89–94. doi:10.1093/jncimonographs/lgac007. ISSN 1052-6773. PMC 9255918. PMID 35788379.
  10. 1 2 "Page 15". cdm17520.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  11. ↑ "Hamline University - Saint Paul, Minnesota". www.hamline.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  12. ↑ "University of Illinois Alumni". University of Illinois Alumni. 2015-05-13. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  13. 1 2 Regulator Watch (2021-11-19). TAXED TO DEATH | Biden Vape Tax Pushes People Back to Smoking | RegWatch. Retrieved 2026-03-09 – via YouTube.
  14. 1 2 "Tobacco Online Policy Seminar (TOPS)". Tobacco Online Policy Seminar (TOPS). Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  15. ↑ "The National Institutes of Health has awarded Michael Pesko $2.65 million in renewal funding for a five-year study to evaluate the effects of e-cigarette policies on youth tobacco use". Georgia State News Hub. 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  16. ↑ "Limiting e-cigarette flavors may benefit public health | Cornell Chronicle". news.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  17. ↑ "Study: Smoking spiked among former quitters post 9/11 | Cornell Chronicle". news.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  18. ↑ "Michael F. Pesko". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  19. 1 2 3 Abouk, Rahi; Courtemanche, Charles; Dave, Dhaval; Feng, Bo; Friedman, Abigail S.; Maclean, Johanna Catherine; Pesko, Michael F.; Sabia, Joseph J.; Safford, Samuel (2023-01-01). "Intended and unintended effects of e-cigarette taxes on youth tobacco use". Journal of Health Economics. 87: 102720. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2022.102720. ISSN 0167-6296.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  20. ↑ Pesko, Michael F.; Courtemanche, Charles J.; Maclean, Johanna Catherine (July 24, 2020). "The effects of traditional cigarette and e-cigarette tax rates on adult tobacco product use". Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. 60 (3): 229–258. doi:10.1007/s11166-020-09330-9. ISSN 0895-5646. PMC 7880200. PMID 33584006.
  21. ↑ Pesko, Michael F.; Warman, Casey (September 14, 2021). "Re‐exploring the early relationship between teenage cigarette and e‐cigarette use using price and tax changes". Health Economics. 31 (1): 137–153. doi:10.1002/hec.4439. ISSN 1057-9230. PMC 9467387. PMID 34672061.
  22. ↑ Friedman, Abigail S.; Pesko, Michael F. (July 19, 2022). "Young adult responses to taxes on cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery systems". Addiction. 117 (12): 3121–3128. doi:10.1111/add.16002. ISSN 0965-2140. PMC 9796020. PMID 35852452.
  23. ↑ Abouk, Rahi; Adams, Scott; Feng, Bo; Maclean, Johanna Catherine; Pesko, Michael F. (June 21, 2023). "The effect of e‐cigarette taxes on pre‐pregnancy and prenatal smoking". Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 42 (4): 908–940. doi:10.1002/pam.22485. ISSN 0276-8739. PMC 10836838. PMID 38313828.
  24. ↑ Pesko, Michael; Saenz, Christian (2025), Pharmaceutical Drug Regulation and Mortality: Evidence from E-cigarettes, doi:10.2139/ssrn.5108105, retrieved 2026-03-09
  25. ↑ Cooper, Michael; Pesko, Michael F. (March 3, 2022). "The effect of E‐cigarette indoor vaping restrictions on infant mortality". Southern Economic Journal. 91 (1): 278–321. doi:10.1002/soej.12564. ISSN 0038-4038. PMC 11313160. PMID 39130090.
  26. ↑ Andersen, Martin; Maclean, Johanna Catherine; Pesko, Michael F.; Simon, Kosali (March 3, 2023). "Does paid sick leave encourage staying at home? Evidence from the United States during a pandemic". Health Economics. 32 (6): 1256–1283. doi:10.1002/hec.4665. ISSN 1057-9230. PMC 12173949. PMID 36895154.
  27. ↑ Arnold, Michelle L.; Heslin, Brianna J.; Dowdy, Madison; Kershner, Stacie P.; Phillips, Serena; Lipton, Brandy; Pesko, Michael F. (March 13, 2024). "Longitudinal Policy Surveillance of Private Insurance Hearing Aid Mandates in the United States: 1997–2022". American Journal of Public Health. 114 (4): 407–414. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2023.307551. ISSN 0090-0036.
  28. ↑ Arnold, Michelle L.; Tonti, Lauren; Phillips, Serena; Kershner, Stacie P.; Lipton, Brandy J.; Heslin, Brianna; Ukert, Benjamin D.; Pesko, Michael F. (December 2025). "Number Of States Providing Medicaid Hearing Aid Coverage For Adults Increased; Variability Was Substantive, 2017–23". Health Affairs. 44 (12): 1522–1529. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2025.00270. ISSN 0278-2715.
  29. ↑ Garuccio, Joseph; Ukert, Benjamin; Arnold, Michelle; Phillips, Serena; Pesko, Michael F. (2025-09-01). "Using Supply and Demand to Identify Shortages in the Hearing Health Care Professional Workforce". JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. 151 (9): 868. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2025.2112. ISSN 2168-6181. PMC 12314769. PMID 40742737.
  30. ↑ Casalino, Lawrence P.; Pesko, Michael F.; Ryan, Andrew M.; Mendelsohn, Jayme L.; Copeland, Kennon R.; Ramsay, Patricia Pamela; Sun, Xuming; Rittenhouse, Diane R.; Shortell, Stephen M. (August 13, 2014). "Small Primary Care Physician Practices Have Low Rates Of Preventable Hospital Admissions". Health Affairs. 33 (9): 1680–1688. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0434. ISSN 0278-2715.
  31. ↑ Ryan, Andrew M.; Burgess, James F.; Pesko, Michael F.; Borden, William B.; Dimick, Justin B. (July 15, 2014). "The Early Effects of Medicare's Mandatory Hospital Pay‐for‐Performance Program". Health Services Research. 50 (1): 81–97. doi:10.1111/1475-6773.12206. ISSN 0017-9124. PMC 4319872. PMID 25040485.
  32. ↑ Cooper, Michael T.; Pesko, Michael F. (October 16, 2017). "The effect of e-cigarette indoor vaping restrictions on adult prenatal smoking and birth outcomes". Journal of Health Economics. 56: 178–190. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.10.002. PMC 5733637. PMID 29107198.
  33. ↑ Pesko, Michael F.; Currie, Janet M. (May 13, 2019). "E-cigarette minimum legal sale age laws and traditional cigarette use among rural pregnant teenagers". Journal of Health Economics. 66: 71–90. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.05.003. PMC 7051858. PMID 31121389.
  34. ↑ Friedman, Abigail S.; Pesko, Michael F.; Whitacre, Travis R. (2024-12-27). "Flavored E-Cigarette Sales Restrictions and Young Adult Tobacco Use". JAMA Health Forum. 5 (12): e244594. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.4594. ISSN 2689-0186. PMC 11681375. PMID 39729302.
  35. ↑ "Biographies: Scientific Advisory Board on Vaping Products". www.canada.ca. 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  36. ↑ "Marshall v. The Altria Group, Inc. et al". Justia Dockets & Filings. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  37. 1 2 Conley, Gregory (2022-01-20). "Arrogant CDC Refuses to Accept Responsibility for EVALI Debacle". American Vaping Association. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  38. 1 2 Gunther, Marc (2022-10-25). "The CDC's EVALI screwup". The Great Vape Debate. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  39. ↑ Stafford, Brent (2023-10-27). "Unintended Consequences | Perils of Flavor Bans & Vape Taxes | RegWatch". Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  40. ↑ "How to Beat the Tobacco Smoking Epidemic: Set E-Cigarette and Snus Taxes Significantly Lower Than Combustible Tobacco Taxes". Morning Consult. Archived from the original on 2024-05-05. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  41. ↑ Rubin, Jennifer Maloney and Richard (2021-11-10). "Biden's Vaping Tax Sparks Concerns People Will Go Back to Cigarettes". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  42. ↑ Norcia, Alex (2020-01-09). "Health Insurance Companies Can Charge People Who Vape Up to 50% More". VICE. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  43. ↑ Pesko, Michael F.; Hartmann-Boyce, Jamie; Fung, Rachel Y. L.; Benowitz, Neal L. (2025-10-17). "E-Cigarettes in Historical Context—Innovation, Risk, and Regulation". JAMA Health Forum. 6 (10): e254629. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.4629. ISSN 2689-0186. Archived from the original on 2025-11-02.
  44. ↑ "OSF". osf.io. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  45. ↑ "OSF". osf.io. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  46. ↑ Michael Pesko, University of Missouri (2025-11-03), Population Exposure to Standardized Tobacco Policies (e-cigarette taxes, indoor air laws, flavored tobacco sales restrictions) in the USA, by state/county and time, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), doi:10.3886/E204041V5, retrieved 2026-03-09
  47. ↑ Michael Pesko, University of Missouri (2026-02-03), Hearing Healthcare Policy Data, by state and time, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), doi:10.3886/E244765V1, retrieved 2026-03-09
  48. ↑ CDC (2025-08-11). "Board of Scientific Counselors, National Center for Health Statistics (BSC, NCHS)". Federal Advisory Committees (FAC). Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  49. ↑ "X: Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Health Statistics".
  50. ↑ "Michael Pesko". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
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