Vaccination and altruism under the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objectives: The goal of this study is to examine the role of altruism and sensitivity to public shame in individuals’ willingness to pay for a COVID-19 vaccine. Study design: We apply expected utility theory to predict the role of individuals’ altruism and public shame in the willingness to pay for vaccines. Subsequently, we test the prediction by using a unique cross-sectional survey. Methods: We use online survey data collected from those aged 30–49 in Japan between June 18th and 25th, 2020 (n = 1686). The selection of respondents follows quota sampling with regard to age group, gender, and prefecture of residence. We employ an ordinary least square (OLS) model to regress respondents’ willingness to pay for a hypothetically-effective vaccine for COVID-19 on binary indicators of altruism and sensitivity to public shame, as well as socio-demographic characteristics. Results: The willingness to pay for the vaccine is higher among those with stronger altruistic concerns and sensitivity to shaming. Conclusion: Voluntary vaccinations may be inefficient, because the uptake of vaccines could be low for selfish individuals who often violate social distancing requirements. To improve the efficiency of vaccine uptake, some interventions, such as nudges and a vaccine passport, may be needed.

Keywords

• Vaccination
• Public good
• Collective action problem
• Altruism
• Public shaming