IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wrk/warwec/1332.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

In Vaccines We Trust? The Effects of the CIA's Vaccine Ruse on Immunization in Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Martinez-Bravo, Monica

    (CEMFI, BREAD, CEPR)

  • Stegmann, Andreas

    (University of Warwick)

Abstract

In July 2011, the Pakistani public learnt that the CIA had used a vaccination campaign as cover to capture Osama Bin Laden. The Taliban leveraged on this information and launched an anti-vaccine propaganda campaign to discredit vaccines and vaccination workers. We evaluate the effects of these events on immunization by implementing a Difference-in-Differences strategy across cohorts and districts. We find that vaccination rates declined 12 to 20% per standard deviation in support for Islamist parties. These results suggest that information discrediting vaccination campaigns can negatively affect trust in health services and demand for immunization

Suggested Citation

  • Martinez-Bravo, Monica & Stegmann, Andreas, 2021. "In Vaccines We Trust? The Effects of the CIA's Vaccine Ruse on Immunization in Pakistan," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1332, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:wrk:warwec:1332
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/workingpapers/2021/twerp_1332_-_stegmann.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leonardo Bursztyn & Robert Jensen, 2017. "Social Image and Economic Behavior in the Field: Identifying, Understanding, and Shaping Social Pressure," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 131-153, September.
    2. Sara Lowes & Eduardo Montero, 2021. "The Legacy of Colonial Medicine in Central Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(4), pages 1284-1314, April.
    3. James Andreoni & Michael Callen & Karrar Hussain & Muhammad Yasir Khan & Charles Sprenger, 2023. "Using Preference Estimates to Customize Incentives: An Application to Polio Vaccination Drives in Pakistan," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 1428-1477.
    4. Davide Cantoni & Yuyu Chen & David Y. Yang & Noam Yuchtman & Y. Jane Zhang, 2017. "Curriculum and Ideology," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(2), pages 338-392.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & Ali Cheema & Asim I. Khwaja & James A. Robinson, 2020. "Trust in State and Nonstate Actors: Evidence from Dispute Resolution in Pakistan," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(8), pages 3090-3147.
    6. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson, 2007. "Disease and Development: The Effect of Life Expectancy on Economic Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(6), pages 925-985, December.
    7. Marcella Alsan & Marianne Wanamaker, 2018. "Tuskegee and the Health of Black Men," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(1), pages 407-455.
    8. Chun-Fang Chiang & Brian Knight, 2011. "Media Bias and Influence: Evidence from Newspaper Endorsements," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 78(3), pages 795-820.
    9. Aurelio Bruzzo, 2018. "Recenti iniziative europee ed italiane per la valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale," Working Papers 2018127, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.
    10. Tahir Andrabi & Jishnu Das, 2017. "In Aid We Trust: Hearts and Minds and the Pakistan Earthquake of 2005," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(3), pages 371-386, July.
    11. Das, Jishnu & Das, Saumya, 2003. "Trust, learning, and vaccination: a case study of a North Indian village," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 97-112, July.
    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. Monica Martinez-Bravo & Andreas Stegmann, 2017. "In Vaccines We Trust? The Effects of the CIA's Vaccine Ruse on Immunization in Pakistan," Working Papers wp2017_1713, CEMFI, revised Jul 2018.
    2. Leon-Ciliotta, Gianmarco & Zejcirovic, Dijana & Fernández Bazán, Fernando, 2022. "Policy-Making, Trust and the Demand for Public Services: Evidence from a Mass Sterilizations Campaign," CEPR Discussion Papers 17361, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Chen, Wei-Lin & Lin, Ming-Jen & Yang, Tzu-Ting, 2023. "Curriculum and national identity: Evidence from the 1997 curriculum reform in Taiwan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Vincent Canwat, 2023. "Political economy of COVID-19: windows of opportunities and contestations in East Africa," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Athias, Laure & Macina, Moudo, 2022. "Demand for vaccination in Sub-Saharan Africa: The vertical legacy of the slave trade," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    6. Charlotte Pelras & Andrea Renk, 2021. "Sterilizations and immunization in India: The Emergency experience (1975-1977)," DeFiPP Working Papers 2105, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    7. Alex Armand & Mattia Fracchia & Pedro C. Vicente, 2024. "Let's call! Using the phone to increase vaccine acceptance," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 82-106, January.
    8. Xiaolong Hou & Yang Jiao & Leilei Shen & Zhuo Chen, 2024. "The lasting impact of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study: COVID-19 vaccination hesitation among African Americans," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-33, June.
    9. Ou, Susan & Xiong, Heyu, 2021. "Mass persuasion and the ideological origins of the Chinese Cultural Revolution," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    10. Mark Koyama, 2023. "Epidemic disease and the state: Is there a tradeoff between public health and liberty?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(1), pages 145-167, April.
    11. Nathan Nunn, 2020. "History as Evolution," NBER Working Papers 27706, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Samuel Bazzi & Masyhur Hilmy & Benjamin Marx, 2020. "Religion, Education, and Development," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03873758, HAL.
    13. Isaac Mbiti & Danila Serra, 2022. "Health workers’ behavior, patient reporting and reputational concerns: lab-in-the-field experimental evidence from Kenya," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(2), pages 514-556, April.
    14. Pelras, Charlotte & Renk, Andréa, 2023. "When sterilizations lower immunizations: The Emergency experience in India (1975–77)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    15. Barton H. Hamilton & Andrés Hincapié & Robert A. Miller & Nicholas W. Papageorge, 2021. "Innovation And Diffusion Of Medical Treatment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(3), pages 953-1009, August.
    16. Sara Lowes & Eduardo Montero, 2021. "The Legacy of Colonial Medicine in Central Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(4), pages 1284-1314, April.
    17. Jim A. C. Everett & Clara Colombatto & Edmond Awad & Paulo Boggio & Björn Bos & William J. Brady & Megha Chawla & Vladimir Chituc & Dongil Chung & Moritz A. Drupp & Srishti Goel & Brit Grosskopf & Fre, 2021. "Moral dilemmas and trust in leaders during a global health crisis," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(8), pages 1074-1088, August.
    18. Olivier Marie & Thomas Post & Zihan Ye & Xiaopeng Zou, 2024. "From Two Heads to One: The Short-Run Effects of the Recentralization of Political Power in Rural China," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-040/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    19. Gonzalez-Eiras, Martín & Niepelt, Dirk, 2012. "Ageing, government budgets, retirement, and growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 97-115.
    20. Das Gupta, Monica & Bongaarts, John & Cleland, John, 2011. "Population, poverty, and sustainable development : a review of the evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5719, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

    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:wrk:warwec:1332. 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: Margaret Nash (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dewaruk.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.