The Social Value of a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine: Willingness to Pay Estimates from Four Western Countries

Joan Costa-Font, Caroline Rudisill (), Sayward Harrison () and Luca Salmasi
Additional contact information
Caroline Rudisill: University of South Carolina
Sayward Harrison: University of South Carolina

No 14475, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: SARS-CoV-2 vaccines give rise to positive externalities on population health, society and the economy in addition to protecting the health of vaccinated individuals. Hence, the social value of such a vaccine exceeds its market value. This paper estimates the willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in four countries, namely the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Spain and Italy during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when no specific vaccine had been approved nor subsidised. WTP estimates are elicited using a payment card method to avoid 'yea saying' biases, and we study the effect of protest responses, sample selection bias, as well as the influence of trust in government and risk exposure when estimating the WTP. Our estimates suggest evidence of an average value of a hypothetical vaccine of 100-200 US dollars once adjusted by purchasing power parity (PPP). Estimates are robust to a number of checks.

Keywords: protest responses; sample selection; payment card; vaccine attitudes; vaccine value; willingness to pay; social value; positive externalities; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H23 H42 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2021-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Health Economics , 2023, 32 (8), 1818 - 1835

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Related works:
Journal Article: The social value of a SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine: Willingness to pay estimates from four western countries (2023)
Working Paper: The social value of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine: willingness to pay estimates from four Western countries (2023)
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