Beliefs, Self-Interest, and Altruism in COVID-19 Vaccination

This project explores the determinants of vaccine take-up among veterans in the United States. Using a combination of observational data, survey data, and informational treatments, we aim to disentangle the economic roots of vaccine hesitancy into self-interested concerns about the benefits and risks of vaccination, altruistic concerns about protecting others, and beliefs that social networks and politics may influence. A new survey will elicit information on political beliefs, social networks and responses to hypothetical benefits and risks of a vaccine. In addition to analyzing the survey data independently, we will explore potential linkages between these data and the VA Corporate Data Warehouse, which contains a wealth of information on veterans' health care utilization, diagnoses, and health outcomes. We will also explore spillovers of beliefs about COVID-19 vaccination onto beliefs and behavior related to flu vaccination.