Objective To determine if the Ohio statewide smoke-free

law is associatedwitheconomic activity inOhioor Kentucky

counties that lie on the border between the two states. In

November 2006, Ohio implemented a comprehensive

statewide smoke-free law for all indoor workplaces.

Design A feasible generalised least squares (FLGS) time

series design to estimate the impact of the Ohio smokefree

law on Kentucky and Ohio border counties.

Setting Six Kentucky and six Ohio counties that lie on the

border between the two states.

Subjects All reporting hospitality and accommodation

establishments in all Kentucky and Ohio counties including

but not limited to food and drinking establishments, hotels

and casinos.

Main outcome measures Total number of employees,

total wages paid and number of reported establishments

in all hospitality and accommodation services, 6 years

before Ohio’s law and 1 year after.

Results There is no evidence of a disproportionate

change in economic activity in Ohio or Kentucky border

counties relative to their non-border counterparts. There

was no evidence of a relation between Ohio’s smoke-free

law and economic activity in Kentucky border counties.

The law generated a positive influence on wages and

number of establishments in Ohio border counties. The

null result cannot be explained by low test power, as

minimum changes necessary in the dependent variables

to detect a significant influence are very reasonable in

size.

Conclusions Our data add to the large body of evidence

that smoke-free laws are neutral with respect to the

hospitality business across jurisdictions with and without

laws.