Publisher:
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE), Düsseldorf
Abstract:
We study the effect of pre-booked COVID-19 vaccination appointments using a na- tionwide campaign in Austria. Leveraging administrative microdata on more than 450,000 initially unvaccinated adults, we exploit cross-state variation in program participation and staggered appointment timing in a difference-in-differences de- sign. Pre-booked appointments increase vaccination on the appointment day by 0.8 percentage points (8 per 1,000), with no evidence of intertemporal substitution. Effects are larger for socio-economically disadvantaged individuals and substan- tially weaker in areas with stronger vaccine skepticism. The findings suggest that behavioral interventions are effective when low uptake reflects frictions, but have limited impact when driven by entrenched skepticism.
