IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/aiw/wpaper/37.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Economic Preferences Predict COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions and Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Angerer

    (UMIT TIROL - Private University for Health Sciences and Health Technology)

  • Helena Antonie Baier

    (Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Management, Heilbronn Campus)

  • Daniela Glätzle-Rützler

    (University of Innsbruck)

  • Philipp Lergetporer

    (Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Management, Heilbronn Campus)

  • Thomas Rittmansberger

    (Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Management)

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between economic preferences and COVID-19 vaccination readiness using two representative samples of the German population (N > 5,000). We elicited altruism, patience, risk-taking and trust using validated survey questions. We find robust, positive relationships between vaccination readiness and both patience and trust. The positive association between altruism and vaccination readiness vanishes when controlling for the other preference dimensions. No consistent effect emerges for risk-taking. Our results underscore the importance of accounting for the interrelated nature of economic preferences when analyzing their impact on field behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Angerer & Helena Antonie Baier & Daniela Glätzle-Rützler & Philipp Lergetporer & Thomas Rittmansberger, 2025. "Economic Preferences Predict COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions and Behavior," Munich Papers in Political Economy 37, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy and the School of Management at the Technical University of Munich.
    • Handle: RePEc:aiw:wpaper:37
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cms.mgt.tum.de/fileadmin/mgt.tum.de/faculty_and_research/mppe/37_EconPref_predict_Vaccination_Readiness.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Armin Falk & Anke Becker & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & David B. Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2017. "Global Evidence on Economic Preferences," NBER Working Papers 23943, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bart H.H. Golsteyn & Hans Grönqvist & Lena Lindahl, 2014. "Adolescent Time Preferences Predict Lifetime Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(580), pages 739-761, November.
    3. Eric A Hanushek & Lavinia Kinneifo & Philipp Lergetporer & Ludger Woessmann, 2022. "Patience, Risk-Taking, and Human Capital Investment Across Countries," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(646), pages 2290-2307.
    4. Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, 2003. "The nature of human altruism," Nature, Nature, vol. 425(6960), pages 785-791, October.
    5. Anderson, Michael L., 2008. "Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 103(484), pages 1481-1495.
    6. Matthias Sutter & Martin G. Kocher & Daniela Glätzle-Rützler & Stefan T. Trautmann, 2013. "Impatience and Uncertainty: Experimental Decisions Predict Adolescents' Field Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 510-531, February.
    7. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2010. "Are Risk Aversion and Impatience Related to Cognitive Ability?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(3), pages 1238-1260, June.
    8. James Andreoni & Charles Sprenger, 2012. "Risk Preferences Are Not Time Preferences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3357-3376, December.
    9. Marta Serra-Garcia & Nora Szech, 2023. "Incentives and Defaults Can Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Intentions and Test Demand," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(2), pages 1037-1049, February.
    10. Campos-Mercade, Pol & Meier, Armando N. & Schneider, Florian H. & Wengström, Erik, 2021. "Prosociality predicts health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    11. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde & Jürgen Schupp & Gert G. Wagner, 2011. "Individual Risk Attitudes: Measurement, Determinants, And Behavioral Consequences," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 522-550, June.
    12. Goebel, Jan & Grabka, Markus M. & Liebig, Stefan & Kroh, Martin & Richter, David & Schröder, Carsten & Schupp, Jürgen, 2019. "The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 239, pages 345-360.
    13. Robert Nuscheler & Kerstin Roeder, 2016. "To Vaccinate or to Procrastinate? That is the Prevention Question," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(12), pages 1560-1581, December.
    14. Fabian Kosse & Thomas Deckers & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Armin Falk, 2020. "The Formation of Prosociality: Causal Evidence on the Role of Social Environment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(2), pages 434-467.
    15. Angerer, Silvia & Bolvashenkova, Jana & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Sutter, Matthias, 2023. "Children’s patience and school-track choices several years later: Linking experimental and field data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    16. Armin Falk & Anke Becker & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2018. "Global Evidence on Economic Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(4), pages 1645-1692.
    17. Tsutsui, Yoshiro & Benzion, Uri & Shahrabani, Shosh, 2012. "Economic and behavioral factors in an individual's decision to take the influenza vaccination in Japan," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 594-602.
    18. Bonin, Holger & Dohmen, Thomas & Falk, Armin & Huffman, David & Sunde, Uwe, 2007. "Cross-sectional earnings risk and occupational sorting: The role of risk attitudes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 926-937, December.
    19. Lergetporer, Philipp & Woessmann, Ludger, 2019. "The Political Economy of Higher Education Finance: How Information and Design Affect Public Preferences for Tuition," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 145, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    20. Serge Blondel & François Langot & Judith E. Mueller & Jonathan Sicsic, 2021. "Preferences and Covid-19 Vaccination Intentions," Working Papers hal-03381425, HAL.
    21. Fabian Kosse & Michela M. Tincani, 2020. "Prosociality predicts labor market success around the world," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-6, December.
    22. Stefanie Stantcheva, 2022. "How to Run Surveys: A Guide to Creating Your Own Identifying Variation and Revealing the Invisible," NBER Working Papers 30527, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Elisabeth Grewenig & Philipp Lergetporer & Lisa Simon & Katharina Werner & Ludger Woessmann, 2018. "Can Online Surveys Represent the Entire Population?," CESifo Working Paper Series 7222, CESifo.
    24. David Crainich & Louis Eeckhoudt & Mario Menegatti, 2019. "Vaccination as a trade-off between risks," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 5(3), pages 455-472, October.
    25. Müller, Stephan & Rau, Holger A., 2021. "Economic preferences and compliance in the social stress test of the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    26. Angerer, Silvia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Sutter, Matthias, 2015. "Donations, risk attitudes and time preferences: A study on altruism in primary school children," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 67-74.
    27. Marjon Pol & Deirdre Hennessy & Braden Manns, 2017. "The role of time and risk preferences in adherence to physician advice on health behavior change," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(3), pages 373-386, April.
    28. Stefano DellaVigna & M. Daniele Paserman, 2005. "Job Search and Impatience," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(3), pages 527-588, July.
    29. Ingar Haaland & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2023. "Designing Information Provision Experiments," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 3-40, March.
    30. Ferdinand Vieider & Thorsten Chmura & Tyler Fisher & Takao Kusakawa & Peter Martinsson & Frauke Mattison Thompson & Adewara Sunday, 2015. "Within- versus between-country differences in risk attitudes: implications for cultural comparisons," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 78(2), pages 209-218, February.
    31. Emilio Esguerra & Leonhard Vollmer & Johannes Wimmer, 2023. "Influence Motives in Social Signaling: Evidence from COVID-19 Vaccinations in Germany," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 275-291, June.
    32. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    33. Kosse, Fabian & Tincani, Michaela M., 2020. "Prosociality predicts labor market success around the world," Munich Reprints in Economics 75115, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    34. Peyton, Kyle & Huber, Gregory A. & Coppock, Alexander, 2022. "The Generalizability of Online Experiments Conducted During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Journal of Experimental Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 379-394, November.
    35. Simon Binder & Robert Nuscheler, 2017. "Risk‐taking in vaccination, surgery, and gambling environments: Evidence from a framed laboratory experiment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S3), pages 76-96, December.
    36. Angerer, Silvia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Rittmannsberger, Thomas, 2024. "Beliefs about social norms and gender-based polarization of COVID-19 vaccination readiness," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    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. Silvia Angerer & Helena Antonie Baier & Daniela Glätzle-Rützler & Philipp Lergetporer & Thomas Rittmannsberger, 2024. "Economic Preferences Predict Covid-19 Vaccination Intentions and Behavior," CESifo Working Paper Series 11566, CESifo.
    2. Angerer, Silvia & Baier, Helena Antonie & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Rittmannsberger, Thomas, 2024. "Economic Preferences Predict COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions and Behavior," IZA Discussion Papers 17533, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Breitkopf, Laura & Chowdhury, Shyamal K. & Priyam, Shambhavi & Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Do economic preferences of children predict behavior?," DICE Discussion Papers 342, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    4. Fang, Ximeng & Freyer, Timo & Ho, Chui-Yee & Chen, Zihua & Goette, Lorenz, 2022. "Prosociality predicts individual behavior and collective outcomes in the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    5. Bašić, Zvonimir & Bortolotti, Stefania & Salicath, Daniel & Schmidt, Stefan & Schneider, Sebastian O. & Sutter, Matthias, 2024. "One Size Fits All? The Interplay of Incentives, Effort Provision, and Personality," IZA Discussion Papers 17287, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Lena Detlefsen & Andreas Friedl & Katharina Lima Miranda & Ulrich Schmidt & Matthias Sutter, 2024. "Are economic preferences shaped by the family context? The relation of birth order and siblings’ gender composition to economic preferences," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 1-31, August.
    7. Angerer, Silvia & Bolvashenkova, Jana & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Sutter, Matthias, 2023. "Children’s patience and school-track choices several years later: Linking experimental and field data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    8. Tim Friehe & Markus Pannenberg, 2020. "Time preferences and political regimes: evidence from reunified Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 349-387, January.
    9. Angerer, Silvia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Rittmannsberger, Thomas, 2023. "How does the vaccine approval procedure affect COVID-19 vaccination intentions?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    10. Horn, Dániel & Kiss, Hubert János & Lénárd, Tünde, 2022. "Gender differences in preferences of adolescents: Evidence from a large-scale classroom experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 478-522.
    11. Zimmermann, Klaus F. & Chowdhury, Shyamal & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Economic preferences across generations and family clusters: A large-scale experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 14998, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Dániel Horn & Hubert János Kiss, 2020. "Time preferences and their life outcome correlates: Evidence from a representative survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-26, July.
    13. Dagorn, Etienne & Dattilo, Martina & Pourieux, Matthieu, 2024. "The role of populations’ behavioral traits in policy-making during a global crisis: Worldwide evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    14. Kosfeld, Michael & Sharafi, Zahra & Sontag González, Maíra & Zou, Na, 2025. "Measuring Economic Preferences with Surveys and Behavioral Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 17608, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Dawoon Jung & Tushar Bharati & Seungwoo Chin, 2021. "Does Education Affect Time Preference? Evidence from Indonesia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1451-1499.
    16. Bauer, Michal & Chytilová, Julie & Miguel, Edward, 2020. "Using survey questions to measure preferences: Lessons from an experimental validation in Kenya," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    17. Armin Falk & Anke Becker & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2018. "Global Evidence on Economic Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(4), pages 1645-1692.
    18. Armin Falk & Fabian Kosse & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Thomas Deckers, 2021. "Socioeconomic Status and Inequalities in Children’s IQ and Economic Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(9), pages 2504-2545.
    19. Daniel Horn & Hubert Janos Kiss, 2018. "Which preferences associate with school performance?—Lessons from an exploratory study with university students," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-32, February.
    20. Pablo Brañas-Garza & Diego Jorrat & Antonio M. Espín & Angel Sánchez, 2023. "Paid and hypothetical time preferences are the same: lab, field and online evidence," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 26(2), pages 412-434, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic preferences; vaccination; COVID-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:aiw:wpaper:37. 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: MPPE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwtumde.html .

    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.