Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/202856 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 82
Publisher: 
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza (DISCE), Milano
Abstract: 
We analyze the effects of a vaccination program providing free flu vaccine to individuals aged 65 or more on take-up and hospitalization. By using linked patient-general practitioner (GP) data, we implement a regression discontinuity design around the threshold at age 65. We find that the program increases vaccination take-up by 6 percentage points, which corresponds to 75% of the take-up for non-eligible individuals, and reduces the probability of hospitalization by about 44%. We show that the effect on take-up is not entirely due to an income channel, and that the effect on health is mainly driven by patients with higher-quality GPs and emergency hospitalizations.
Subjects: 
vaccination
influenza
public health
health prevention policies
JEL: 
I12
I18
J10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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