Learning by Suffering? Patterns in Flu Shot Take-Up

31 Pages Posted: 19 Nov 2018 Last revised: 22 Jul 2023

See all articles by Ginger Zhe Jin

Ginger Zhe Jin

University of Maryland - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Thomas Koch

Government of the United States of America, Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics

Date Written: November 2018

Abstract

An annual flu shot is one of the least controversial and most widely-recommended preventative health measures. In spite of such advice, only a fraction of those who are suggested to get a flu shot actually receive it. We focus on past personal outcomes to understand how individual learning in influences patterns over time using medical claims for a 5% panel sample of Medicare FFS beneficiaries. We find that individuals learn from personal suffering from flu and such learning is conditional on whether they have taken a flu shot in the same flu season. If they did not take a flu shot, having the flu later on encourages them to get the flu shot next year. But if they had the flu shot and still got the flu, their likelihood of getting a flu shot next year is significantly reduced. The 2009 outbreak of bird flu does not break the qualitative pattern of “learning by suffering” but it does change the strength of learning.

Suggested Citation

Jin, Ginger Zhe and Koch, Thomas, Learning by Suffering? Patterns in Flu Shot Take-Up (November 2018). NBER Working Paper No. w25272, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3286937

Ginger Zhe Jin (Contact Author)

University of Maryland - Department of Economics ( email )

College Park, MD 20742
United States
301-405-3484 (Phone)
301-405-3542 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Thomas Koch

Government of the United States of America, Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics ( email )

601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
United States

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