Would you quit smoking for money? A new study suggests that money may be a strong reason to encourage someone to quit smoking.

Researchers lead by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, tracked 878 General Electric Co. employees from around the country for a year and a half in 2005 and 2006. Those who smoked an average of one package of cigarettes a day were divided into two groups. One group received as much as $750 in cash, with the payments spread out over time to encourage longer-term abstinence. The participants got $100 for completing a smoking-cessation program, $250 if they stopped smoking within six months after the beginning of the study and $400 if they continued to abstain from smoking for an additional period of six months.

The study found that about 15 percent of people rewarded to quit smoking had managed to avoid smoking after nine to 12 months, while only 5 percent of those in the unpaid group quit the habit.

Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. Smoking, whether it is actual smoking or secondhand smoke, increases the risk of many other cancers in women, including breast, oral, pharynx, larynx, esophageal, pancreatic, kidney, bladder, uterine, and cervical cancers.

The risk of having a stroke becomes double if someone smokes. More exactly, the risks are interrelated with the number of cigarettes you smoke a day. It is 2.2 times greater in those who smoke one to ten cigarettes a day, 4.3 times higher for those smoking 21 to 39 cigarettes a day and 9.1 times higher for those smoking 2 packs a day or more.

Smoking and its related causes kill about 480,000 Americans a year.