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Uncovering a behavioral strategy for establishing new habits: Evidence from incentives for medication adherence in Uganda

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  • Stecher, Chad
  • Mukasa, Barbara
  • Linnemayr, Sebastian

Abstract

Incentives are used to improve many health-related behaviors, but evidence is mixed for their effectiveness both during the incentivization period and, even more so, on the persistence of the behavior after incentives are withdrawn. In this paper, we present the results of a randomized controlled trial that successfully uses incentives to improve medication adherence among HIV-infected patients in Uganda over 20 months, and follows the sample for another 6 months to measure the persistence of these behavioral improvements. Our study contributes to the literature on habit formation by identifying a behavioral strategy that is associated with persistently high medication adherence after controlling for observable individual-level characteristics and the receipt of incentives. We find evidence supporting a psychological theory of habits as reflexive context-behavior associations, which suggests new ways of designing incentive-based interventions for better promoting persistent, healthier behaviors.

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  • Stecher, Chad & Mukasa, Barbara & Linnemayr, Sebastian, 2021. "Uncovering a behavioral strategy for establishing new habits: Evidence from incentives for medication adherence in Uganda," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:77:y:2021:i:c:s016762962100028x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102443
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    Cited by:

    1. Stecher, Chad & Palimaru, Alina I. & Odiit, Mary & Lunkuse, Lillian & Walukaga, Stewart & Linnemayr, Sebastian, 2023. "Barriers and facilitators of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence habit formation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from a qualitative study in Kampala, Uganda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Habit formation; Incentives; Medication adherence; HIV;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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