PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Corey White
TI  - Measuring Social and Externality Benefits of Influenza Vaccination
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.56.3.1118-9893R2
DP  - 2019 Sep 16
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 1118-9893R2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2019/09/10/jhr.56.3.1118-9893R2.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2019/09/10/jhr.56.3.1118-9893R2.full
AB  - Vaccination represents a canonical example of externalities in economics, yet there are few estimates of their magnitudes. I estimate social and externality benefits of influenza vaccination in two settings. First, using a natural experiment, I estimate the impacts of aggregate vaccination rates on mortality and work absences in the United States. Second, I examine a setting with large potential externality benefits: vaccination mandates for health care workers. I find that the social benefits of vaccination are substantial, most of benefits operate through an externality, and that the benefits of health care worker vaccination are particularly large.