Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272770 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16143
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We provide a framework to disentangle preferences and beliefs in health behavior and apply it to lockdown compliance in the UK. We estimate a model of compliance choice with uncertain costs and benefits to quantify utility tradeoffs, decompose group differences in compliance, and compute monetary compensations for complying. Individuals have largest disutility from passing away from COVID and being caught transgressing, and largest utility from preserving their mental health. While preferences and beliefs explain compliance differences by gender, only preferences drive differences by vulnerability. When others fail to comply and trust breaks down, the risk tolerant and those without prior COVID experience comply less, the vulnerables more. When a public figure breaches the rules, opponents comply less. Heterogenous beliefs, preferences, and responses to others are key to health policies.
Subjects: 
health behaviors
beliefs
preferences
COVID-19
JEL: 
C25
C83
D84
I12
I18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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