The Changing Economic Structures of the American Cigarette Industry

Abstract

The emphasis of this entire study is on the cigarette industry and not the tobacco industry. Even though today's major manufacturers are all engaged in other tobacco product production, more than 80% of each company's tobacco sales come from the sale of cigarettes. The fact remains that cigarettes have grown in importance, but in reality have been the foundation of the tobacco industry since their acceptance as a tobacco product. Cigarettes were the backbone of the old Tobacco Trust and were likewise of the successor companies after the dissolution. Thus by studying the cigarette industry one cannot help but study the tobacco industry from the standpoint that this portion of the tobacco industry has made the entire industry what it is today.