Vaccination under the Pandemic and Political Support

Author: Masaki Takahashi、Reo Takaku、Toyo Ashida、Yoko Ibuka
Date: 2022/02/15
No: DP2022-003
JEL Classification codes: D72, H51, I18
Language: English
[ Abstract / Highlights ]

This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on political support. We exploit Japan's age-based COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, prioritizing people aged 65 years and older. A regression discontinuity design based on a large-scale online survey reveals that COVID-19 vaccination increases favorable opinions of the vaccination progress in municipalities and infection control measures of municipal governments. By contrast, there is no significant effect on support for the central government. We also discovered that people with chronic diseases and low socioeconomic status are more affected. These results show that reciprocal motives and political information play an important role in evaluating public policies.