We here investigate the role of risk aversion in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The theoretical effect is ambiguous, as both COVID-19 infection and vaccination side-effects involve probabilistic elements. In large-scale data covering five European countries, we find that vaccine hesitancy falls with risk aversion, so that COVID-19 infection is perceived as involving greater risk than is vaccination.
Keywords: COME-HERE survey; Europe; risk aversion; vaccine hesitancy.
© 2023 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.