IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v55y2024ics1570677x24000935.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Discrimination backfires? Minority ethnic disparities in vaccine hesitancy

Author

Listed:
  • Costa-Font, Joan
  • Docrat, Fatima

Abstract

A number of minority ethnic groups (MEGs) exhibited persistent reluctance to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This paper attempts to empirically identify and validate some of the contentious behavioral determinants for vaccine hesitancy (VH) that remain unexplained including the role of risk perceptions, trust in government institutions, and prior experiences of racism and trauma. We draw on unique longitudinal data from a minority-boosted sample that was collected in the United Kingdon (UK). We document robust evidence of MEG disparities in VH, which declined between November 2020 and March 2021. While VH is associated to both historical and current distrust in government, risk beliefs, exposure to racism, and an individuals socio-economic background, these factors do not fully explain MEG disparities. Furthermore, similar patterns of inequality are observed when we examine MEG disparities in healthcare use, suggesting that disparities in VH reflect broader unobservable structural barriers to healthcare access.

Suggested Citation

  • Costa-Font, Joan & Docrat, Fatima, 2024. "Discrimination backfires? Minority ethnic disparities in vaccine hesitancy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:55:y:2024:i:c:s1570677x24000935
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101441
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X24000935
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101441?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Owens Jr. & Zachary Grossman Jr. & Ryan Fackler Jr., 2014. "The Control Premium: A Preference for Payoff Autonomy," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 138-161, November.
    2. Irene A Doherty & William Pilkington & Laurin Brown & Victoria Billings & Undi Hoffler & Lisa Paulin & K Sean Kimbro & Brittany Baker & Tianduo Zhang & Tracie Locklear & Seronda Robinson & Deepak Kuma, 2021. "COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in underserved communities of North Carolina," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Adida, Claire & Gottlieb, Jessica & Kramon, Eric & McClendon, Gwyneth, 2017. "Reducing or Reinforcing In-Group Preferences? An Experiment on Information and Ethnic Voting," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 12(4), pages 437-477, December.
    4. Quinn, Katherine & Bowleg, Lisa & Dickson-Gomez, Julia, 2019. "“The fear of being Black plus the fear of being gay”: The effects of intersectional stigma on PrEP use among young Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 86-93.
    5. Jamie Murphy & Frédérique Vallières & Richard P. Bentall & Mark Shevlin & Orla McBride & Todd K. Hartman & Ryan McKay & Kate Bennett & Liam Mason & Jilly Gibson-Miller & Liat Levita & Anton P. Martine, 2021. "Psychological characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in Ireland and the United Kingdom," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Karlsen, S. & Nazroo, J.Y., 2002. "Relation between racial discrimination, social class, and health among ethnic minority groups," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(4), pages 624-631.
    7. repec:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:11215-11220 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Mclean, Carl & Campbell, Catherine & Cornish, Flora, 2003. "African-Caribbean interactions with mental health services in the UK: experiences and expectations of exclusion as (re)productive of health inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 657-669, February.
    9. Yaqub, Ohid & Castle-Clarke, Sophie & Sevdalis, Nick & Chataway, Joanna, 2014. "Attitudes to vaccination: A critical review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1-11.
    10. Campbell, Catherine & McLean, Carl, 2002. "Ethnic identities, social capital and health inequalities: factors shaping African-Caribbean participation in local community networks in the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 643-657, August.
    11. Callaghan, Timothy & Moghtaderi, Ali & Lueck, Jennifer A. & Hotez, Peter & Strych, Ulrich & Dor, Avi & Fowler, Erika Franklin & Motta, Matthew, 2021. "Correlates and disparities of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    12. Armstrong, K. & Ravenell, K.L. & McMurphy, S. & Putt, M., 2007. "Racial/ethnic differences in physician distrust in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(7), pages 1283-1289.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Costa-Font, Joan & Docrat, Fatima, 2024. "Discrimination backfires? Minority ethnic disparities in vaccine hesitancy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125725, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Barceló, Joan & Sheen, Greg Chih-Hsin & Tung, Hans H. & Wu, Wen-Chin, 2022. "Vaccine nationalism among the public: A cross-country experimental evidence of own-country bias towards COVID-19 vaccination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    3. Hill, Patrick L. & Burrow, Anthony L. & Strecher, Victor J., 2021. "Sense of purpose in life predicts greater willingness for COVID-19 vaccination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    4. Jeffrey V. Lazarus & Katarzyna Wyka & Trenton M. White & Camila A. Picchio & Kenneth Rabin & Scott C. Ratzan & Jeanna Parsons Leigh & Jia Hu & Ayman El-Mohandes, 2022. "Revisiting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy around the world using data from 23 countries in 2021," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Acar-Burkay, Sinem & Cristian, Daniela-Carmen, 2022. "Cognitive underpinnings of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    6. Kobayashi, Yoshiharu & Howell, Christopher & Heinrich, Tobias & Motta, Matthew, 2022. "Investigating how historical legacies of militarized violence can motivate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Evidence from global dyadic survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    7. Dincer, Oguzhan & Gillanders, Robert, 2021. "Shelter in place? Depends on the place: Corruption and social distancing in American states," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    8. M. Anne George & Cherylynn Bassani, 2018. "Influence of Perceived Racial Discrimination on the Health of Immigrant Children in Canada," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 527-540, August.
    9. Ertac, Seda & Gumren, Mert & Gurdal, Mehmet Y., 2020. "Demand for decision autonomy and the desire to avoid responsibility in risky environments: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Britta Butz & Pablo Guillen Alvarez & Christine Harbring, 2024. "Incentives for cooperation in groups: sociality meets decision rights," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(10), pages 2925-2951, October.
    11. Gary D. Sherman & Beth Vallen & Stacey R. Finkelstein & Paul M. Connell & Wendy Attaya Boland & Kristen Feemster, 2021. "When taking action means accepting responsibility: Omission bias predicts parents' reluctance to vaccinate due to greater anticipated culpability for negative side effects," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 1660-1681, December.
    12. Giulietti, Corrado & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2023. "When reality bites: Local deaths and vaccine take-up," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    13. Johnston, David W. & Lordan, Grace, 2012. "Discrimination makes me sick! An examination of the discrimination–health relationship," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 99-111.
    14. David Danz & Dorothea Kübler & Lydia Mechtenberg & Julia Schmid, 2015. "On the Failure of Hindsight-Biased Principals to Delegate Optimally," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(8), pages 1938-1958, August.
    15. Montesanti, Stephanie Rose & Abelson, Julia & Lavis, John N. & Dunn, James R., 2015. "The value of frameworks as knowledge translation mechanisms to guide community participation practice in Ontario CHCs," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 223-231.
    16. Irizar, Patricia & Kapadia, Dharmi & Amele, Sarah & Bécares, Laia & Divall, Pip & Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal & Kibuchi, Eliud & Kneale, Dylan & McCabe, Ronan & Nazroo, James & Nellums, Laura B. & T, 2023. "Pathways to ethnic inequalities in COVID-19 health outcomes in the United Kingdom: A systematic map," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    17. Louise Tanner & Sarah Sowden & Madeleine Still & Katie Thomson & Clare Bambra & Josephine Wildman, 2021. "Which Non-Pharmaceutical Primary Care Interventions Reduce Inequalities in Common Mental Health Disorders? A Protocol for a Systematic Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-12, December.
    18. Michele Dell'Era & Luca David Opromolla & Luís Santos‐Pinto, 2023. "Can optimism solve the entrepreneurial earnings puzzle?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 125(1), pages 139-169, January.
    19. Hout, Wil & Wagner, Natascha & Demena, Binyam A., 2022. "Does accountability enhance service delivery? Assessment of a local scorecard initiative in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    20. Helen Dickinson & Anne Kavanagh & Stefanie Dimov & Marissa Shields & Ashley McAllister, 2023. "Political legitimacy and vaccine hesitancy: Disability support workers in Australia," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 42(1), pages 104-116.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Vaccination hesitancy; Ethnicity; Race; Health care access; Minority ethnic groups; Health Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:55:y:2024:i:c:s1570677x24000935. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.