Are vaccine lotteries worth the money?

Christopher Robertson; K Aleks Schaefer; Daniel Scheitrum

doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2021.110097

Are vaccine lotteries worth the money?

Econ Lett. 2021 Dec:209:110097. doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.110097. Epub 2021 Oct 12.

Authors

Christopher Robertson¹, K Aleks Schaefer², Daniel Scheitrum³

Affiliations

¹ Boston University School of Law, United States of America.
² Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, United States of America.
³ Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Arizona, United States of America.

Abstract

This research evaluates the effects of the twelve statewide vaccine lottery schemes that were announced as of June 7, 2021 on state vaccination rates. We construct a dataset that matches information on the timing and location of these lotteries with daily, county-level data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on the cumulative number of people who have received at least one dose of an emergency-authorized Covid-19 vaccine. We find that 10 of the 12 statewide lotteries studied (i.e., all but Arkansas and California) generated a positive, statistically significant, and economically meaningful impact on vaccine uptake after thirty days. On average, the cost per marginal vaccination across these programs was approximately $55.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health economics; Lottery incentives; Public policy; Vaccines.