Paying Adolescents for Health Screenings Works

Martin Halla, Gerald Pruckner and Thomas Schober

No 2021-02, CDL Aging, Health, Labor working papers from The Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory Aging, Health, and the Labor Market, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria

Abstract: With regard to their future health, adolescents are at a critical stage. Previous evaluations have shown that health screenings, counseling and other intervention programs during this phase of life are important, in particular for those with a low socio economic background. Unfortunately, adolescents tend to have little interest in preventive programs. We have designed a field-experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of financial incentives to promote the participation in health screenings. Our study comprises more than 10;000 participants, who we observe in high quality administrative data from Austria. The treatment group received a e40 shopping voucher if they participated in an age-specific health screening. On average the financial incentive increased the likelihood of participation by 280 %. Treatment effects are comparably larger for children in families with a higher socio-economic status, and of parents with a revealed preference for secondary health prevention.

Keywords: Health screenings; financial incentives; adolescence; early intervention; secondary prevention. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H51 H75 I12 I14 I18 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-02
Note: English
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Related works:
Journal Article: Paying Adolescents for Health Screenings Works (2022)
Working Paper: Paying Adolescents for Health Screenings Works (2021)
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