Is an Ounce of Prevention Worth a Pound of Cure? Evidence from a Large-Scale Vaccination Experiment in China

Abstract：Can publicly-funded immunization programs in developing countries be cost-effective? To answer this, we run a large-scale experiment in China to estimate the cost-effectiveness of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines on elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Vaccinated patients – relative to the control group – experienced improvements in their COPD condition, which led to a substantial decrease in their medical expenditure (public medical insurance reimbursements and out-of-pocket expenses). Conservative difference-in-differences estimates imply that every dollar spent making vaccination freely available reduced public medical insurance reimbursements by at least 10 to 25 dollars, and reduced total medical expenditure by 16 to 33 dollars. Comparing across beneficiaries, we find that patients aged 70 and above, with more severe COPD symptoms, and those residing in rural areas, benefitted the most from immunization. Our results shed light on the long-run viability of public immunization programs, and for whom should immunization be prioritized.

报告时间：2025年4月25日，下午2:00        

线下地点：浙江财经大学经济学院6-210会议室

主办单位：浙江财经大学数量经济研究中心、浙江财经大学经济学院

协办单位：《财经论丛》编辑部

嘉宾介绍：

宗庆庆，现任上海财经大学公共经济与管理学院副院长、副教授、博士生导师，兼任金融硕士（首席投资官方向）研究生教育中心副主任、投资发展研究院副院长。北京大学光华管理学院博士后，美国宾夕法尼亚大学访问学者，亚洲开发银行投资咨询顾问。在《经济研究》、《经济学（季刊）》、《金融研究》、《财经研究》、Research Policy、Energy Economics、International Studies of Economics等中英文权威学术期刊上发表或接受发表论文多篇。研究成果获“上海市哲学社会科学研究成果奖一等奖” 、“洪银兴经济学奖” 、 “全国财政理论研究成果奖” 、“International Studies of Economics 2022年度最佳论文奖”等奖项。主持国家自然科学基金青年项目、中国博士后科学基金委特别资助项目和面上项目等课题10余项。主持或参与卫健委、财政部等国家部委委托的横向课题多项。