Hana Ross

Hana Ross
Senior Research Associate

email: hzarub1@yahoo.com
telephone: (+43-1) 5336610

Hana Ross is Senior Research Associate at wiiw and country expert for Eastern Europe and Western Balkans countries. Her research focuses on economic analysis related to taxing tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks. She is also a member of the editorial board of Tobacco Control journal. In her recent research, she analysed the impact of the EU Tobacco Tax Directive on tobacco use and tax revenue and studied the impact of track and trace on illicit cigarette trade in Pakistan. She assembled comprehensive academic and international experience in the USA (University of Illinois at Chicago, RTI, American Cancer Society) and South Africa (University of Cape Town), and graduated in economics (PhD) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a World Bank consultant on the issues related to health taxes.

Austria, Vienna

List of Publications

External Publications wiiw Publications

External Publications

Articles in refereed journals
  • 'An assessment of proposals for reforming the European union's tobacco tax directive' (with J. Robert Branston and Ángel López-Nicolás), Elsevier, International Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 137, March 2025, 104724
  • 'The trade of illicit cigarettes in Ghana: Insights from a policy synthesis and qualitative study' (with Linda Bauld, Olivia A. Boateng, Divine Darlington Logo, Fiona Dobbie, Allen Gallagher, Anna Gilmore, Tarja Kinnunen, Ellis Owusu-Dabo and Arti Singh), Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, Policy Case Studies, Vol. 11, January 2025
  • 'Tobacco Taxation in Spain: A Tax Laggard With a Brighter Possible Future' (with J. Robert Branston and Ángel López-Nicolás), Oxford Academic, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, Volume 27, Issue 1, January 2025, pp. 46-53
  • 'Evaluating compliance with track and trace and other regulations in Pakistan’s cigarette market' (with Saeed Ansaari, Estelle Dauchy and Amina Khan), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, October 2024
  • 'An overlooked market: loose cigarettes, informal vendors and their implications for tobacco taxation' (with Max Gallien and Giovanni Occhiali), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 33, Issue 6, October 2024, pp. 720-726
  • 'Response of legal and illegal cigarette prices to a tax increase in Ethiopia' (with Sisay Derso Mengesha), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 33, Issue 5, September 2024, pp. 648-653
  • 'How much to pay for a track and trace system: a simulation model for South Africa' (with Kirsten van der Zee and Corné van Walbeek), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 33, Issue 2, February 2024, pp. 252-257
  • 'Improving estimates of the illicit cigarette trade through collaboration: lessons from two studies of Malaysia' (with J. Robert Branston, Allen W. A. Gallagher, Wency Kher Thinng Bui, Ridzuan Kunji Koya and Norashidah Mohamed Nor), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, January 2024
  • 'Estimating the Size of Illicit Tobacco Market in Lithuania: Results from the Discarded Pack Collection Method' (with Lukas Galkus, Vaida Liutkutė-Gumarov, Laura Miščikienė, Janina Petkevičienė, Mindaugas Štelemėkas, Tadas Telksnys and Justina Vaitkevičiūtė), Oxford Academic, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, Volume 25, Issue 8, August 2023, pp. 1431–1439
  • 'Smoking prevention that increases tax revenue: tobacco taxes in the Czech Republic 2004-2020' (with Eva Králíková and Kamila Zvolská), Central European Journal of Public Health, 31(2), June 2023, pp. 83-89
  • 'Tobacco industry compliance with the EU track and tracing system in Lithuania' (with Vaida Liutkutė-Gumarov), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 32, Issue 4, June 2023, pp. 517-519
  • 'Extent of illicit cigarette market from single stick sales in Ghana: findings from a cross-sectional survey' (with Linda Bauld, Olivia A. Boateng, Divine Darlington Logo, Fiona Dobbie, Allen Gallagher, Anna Gilmore, Tarja Kinnunen, Ellis Owusu-Dabo and Arti Singh), BMJ Open, Volume 13, Issue 3, March 2023, e062476
  • 'Tobacco industry tactics in response to cigarette excise tax increases in Mauritius' (with Julie Berthet Valdois, Marie Chan Sun, Bhavish Jugurnath, Deowan Mohee, Hema Soondram and Corné van Walbeek), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 29, Issue e1, December 2020, pp. e115-e118
  • 'The illicit cigarette market in six South African townships' (with Kirsten van der Zee, Corné van Walbeek and Nicole Vellios), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 29, Issue Suppl 4, October 2020, pp. s267-s274
  • 'Consumption of legal and illegal cigarettes in the Gambia' (with Zunda Chisha and Mohammed L. Janneh), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 29, Issue Suppl 4, October 2020, pp. s254-s259
  • 'Impact of tax increases on illicit cigarette trade in Mongolia' (with Tsetsegsaikhan Batmunkh, Myadagmaa Enkhtsogt, Laura Rossouw and Nicole Vellios), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 29, Issue Suppl 4, October 2020, pp. s249-s253
  • 'Illicit tobacco trade in Georgia: prevalence and perceptions' (with Tsetsegsaikhan Batmunkh, Iago Kachkachishvili and Megan Little), BMJ Journals, Tobacco Control, Volume 29, Issue Suppl 4, October 2020, pp. s227-s233
Shorter papers and comments
  • 'The illicit cigarette market in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): findings from a cross-sectional study of empty cigarette packs' (with Noreen Dadirai Mdege, Emmanuel Kandate, Christus Cito Miderho, Patrice Milambo, Didier Mirindi, Retselisitsoe Pokothoane, Kelley Sams, Patrick Shamba and Christelle Tchoupe), medRxiv, October 2024
  • 'Illicit Cigarette Trade and Tax evasion in Zambia: Findings from the Tobacco Control Data Initiative 2023' (with Aminata Camara, Noreen Dadirai Mdege, Fastone Matthew Goma, Seember Joy Ali, Mbaita Maka, Webby Mwamulela, Sharon Ogolla, Masauso Moses Phiri, Retselisitsoe Pokothoane, Richard Zulu and Cosmas Zyambo), medRxiv, October 2024
  • 'Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products Need Not Hinder Tobacco Tax Policy Reforms and Increases' (with Evan Blecher), Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Economics for Health, Policy Brief, November 2019
Other working papers and discussion series
  • 'Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products Need Not Hinder Tobacco Tax Policy Reforms and Increases' (with Evan Blecher), Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Economics for Health, White Paper, November 2019
  • 'Confronting Illicit Tobacco Trade : a Global Review of Country Experiences (Vol. 1 of 2)', WBG Global Tobacco Control Program, World Bank Group, Working Paper 133959, Washington, D.C., January 2019, Chapter 20
  • 'Confronting Illicit Tobacco Trade : a Global Review of Country Experiences (Vol. 1 of 2)', WBG Global Tobacco Control Program, World Bank Group, Working Paper 133959, Washington, D.C., January 2019, Chapter 5

wiiw Publications

wiiw Policy Notes and Reports
  • 'Analysis of the Fiscal and Health Impact of Increasing Tobacco Excise Taxes in Ukraine, Ukrainian Version: Аналіз фіскального та медичного впливу підвищення акцизів на тютюнові вироби в Україні' (with Kristijan Fidanovski, Biljana Jovanovikj and Nóra Kungl), wiiw Policy Note/Policy Report, No. 82, Vienna, August 2024
  • 'Analysis of the Fiscal and Health Impact of Increasing Tobacco Excise Taxes in Ukraine' (with Kristijan Fidanovski, Biljana Jovanovikj and Nóra Kungl), wiiw Policy Note/Policy Report, No. 82, Vienna, August 2024
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