This paper explores the effects of a measles outbreak on vaccination uptake in Austria, using administrative data with individual-level information on childhood vaccinations. I define a treatment group of children affected by the outbreak, and compare them with a control group of earlier-born children who are unaffected. Twelve months after the outbreak, the vaccination rate of the treatment group is 2.5 (first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine) and 4 (second dose) percentage points higher than the corresponding rates of the control group. The results do not indicate that families at increased risk respond more strongly, suggesting that the outbreak changed the perceived value of vaccinations across the whole population. Findings also reveal heterogeneity in the response of families based on the parents’ level of education, indicating that parents with higher education levels absorb new information more rapidly.

本文使用行政数据以及有关儿童疫苗接种的个人信息，探索了奥地利爆发麻疹对疫苗接种的影响。我定义了一个受暴发影响的儿童治疗组，并将其与未受影响的早产儿对照组进行比较。疫情爆发后十二个月，治疗组的疫苗接种率是2.5（麻疹，腮腺炎和风疹疫苗的第一剂），比对照组的接种率高4个百分点。结果并未表明风险增加的家庭反应更强烈，表明该暴发改变了整个人群中疫苗接种的感知价值。研究结果还显示，根据父母的受教育程度，家庭在应对方式上存在异质性，