Information and vaccine hesitancy: the role of broadband Internet
Author(s)
Garcia-Amaral, Sofia
Nardotto, Mattia
Propper, Carol
Valletti, Tommaso
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We examine the effect of Internet diffusion on the uptake of an important public health intervention: the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. We study England between 2000 and 2011 when Internet diffusion spread rapidly and there was a high profile medical article (falsely) linking the MMR vaccine to autism. OLS estimates suggest Internet diffusion led to an increase in vaccination rates. This result is reversed after allowing for endogeneity of Internet access. The effect of Internet diffusion is sizable. A one standard deviation increase in Internet penetration led to around a 20% decrease in vaccination rates. Localities characterized by higher proportions of high skilled individuals and lower deprivation levels had a larger response to Internet diffusion. These findings are consistent with higher skilled and less-deprived parents responding faster to false information that the vaccine could lead to autism.
Date Issued
2024-09
Date Acceptance
2024-05-09
Citation
Health Economics, 2024, 33 (9), pp.1936-1948
ISSN
1057-9230
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1936
End Page
1948
Journal / Book Title
Health Economics
Volume
33
Issue
9
Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Author(s). Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.4856
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2024-05-27