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Did you get your shots? Experimental evidence on the role of reminders

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  • Busso, Matias
  • Cristia, Julian
  • Humpage, Sarah

Abstract

Many families fail to vaccinate their children despite the supply of these services at no cost. This study tests whether personal reminders can increase demand for vaccination. A field experiment was conducted in rural Guatemala in which timely reminders were provided to families whose children were due for a vaccine. The six-month intervention increased the probability of vaccination completion by 2.2 percentage points among all children in treatment communities. Moreover, for children in treatment communities who were due to receive a vaccine, and whose parents were expected to be reminded about that due date, the probability of vaccination completion increased by 4.6 percentage points. The cost of an additional child with complete vaccination due to the intervention is estimated at about $7.50.

Suggested Citation

  • Busso, Matias & Cristia, Julian & Humpage, Sarah, 2015. "Did you get your shots? Experimental evidence on the role of reminders," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 226-237.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:44:y:2015:i:c:p:226-237
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.08.005
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    Cited by:

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    3. González, María P. & Scartascini, Carlos, 2023. "Increasing the Use of Telemedicine: A Field Experiment," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12850, Inter-American Development Bank.
    4. C. Yiwei Zhang & Jeffrey Hemmeter & Judd B. Kessler & Robert D. Metcalfe & Robert Weathers, 2023. "Nudging Timely Wage Reporting: Field Experimental Evidence from the U.S. Supplemental Security Income Program," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(3), pages 1341-1353, March.
    5. Steven E. Prince & Sarah E. Muskin & Samantha J. Kramer & ShihMing Huang & Timothy Blakey & Ana G. Rappold, 2024. "Smoke on the horizon: leveling up citizen and social science to motivate health protective responses during wildfires," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Hirani, Jonas Cuzulan & Wüst, Miriam, 2023. "Reminder Design and Childhood Vaccination Coverage," IZA Discussion Papers 15877, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Bhattacharya, Haimanti & Dugar, Subhasish, 2022. "Business norm versus norm-nudge as a contract-enforcing mechanism: Evidence from a real marketplace," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Busso, Matias & Romero, Dario & Salcedo, Dario, 2017. "Improving access to preventive maternal health care using reminders: Experimental evidence from Guatemala," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 43-46.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vaccination; Reminders; Field experiment; Guatemala;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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