A BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC-ANALYSIS OF CONCURRENTLY AVAILABLE MONEY AND CIGARETTES

In economic terms, consumption of a reinforcer is determined by its pr ice and the availability and price of other reinforcers. This study ex amined the effects of response-requirement (i.e., price) manipulations on the self-administration of two concurrently available reinforcers. Six cigarette smokers participated in 4-hr sessions in which money an d puffs on a cigarette were concurrently available according to fixed- ratio schedules of reinforcement. Once stable responding was obtained with both reinforcers available at Fixed Ratio 100, the response requi rement for one reinforcer was systematically varied (Fixed Ratio 1,000 and 2,500), while the other reinforcer remained scheduled at Fixed Ra tio 100. Increasing the fixed-ratio size for a reinforcer decreased it s consumption, with a greater decrease occurring for monetary reinforc ement. This finding was quantified in economic terms as own-price elas ticity, with elasticity coefficients greater for money than cigarettes . The effects of fixed-ratio size on response output also differed acr oss the two reinforcers. Although greater responding occurred for mone y at Fixed Ratio 100, increases in fixed-ratio size (for money) decrea sed responding for money, whereas the same increase in fixed-ratio siz e (for puffs) increased responding for puffs. Finally, increasing the fixed-ratio size for one reinforcer had little effect on consumption o f the other concurrently available reinforcer. This finding was quanti fied as cross-price elasticity, with elasticity coefficients near 0.0 for most subjects, indicating little or no reinforcer interaction. The results indicate that the reinforcing effects of cigarettes and money in the setting studied here differed, and that the effects produced b y changing the price of one reinforcer did not interact with the consu mption of the other concurrently available reinforcer.