Field experiment to measure psychic costs of vaccination in rural Africa

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K13357
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Economic policy
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: TAKASAKI Yoshito 東京大学, 大学院経済学研究科(経済学部), 教授 (00334029)
• Research Collaborator: SATO Ryoko The World Bank, Poverty and Equity Global Practice, Junior Professional Officer
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 開発経済学 / フィールド実験 / 母子保健 / 予防接種 / 心理的障壁 / ナイジェリア / 国際研究者交流

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project is an experimental study on psychic costs (e.g., misunderstanding, superstition, distrust) of health services which are often considered to be a major barrier to women’s health behaviors in developing countries. The study is based on our two field experiments on tetanus toxoid vaccination among women of childbearing age in rural northern Nigeria. We found significant psychic costs of vaccination. We also found significant peer effects on vaccination. We then considered new promising field experiments on maternal and child health, such as facility delivery, infant vaccination, and pregnancy test.

Free Research Field

開発経済学，資源経済学，応用ミクロ計量経済学，フィールド実験