The Effects of Program Information on Citizens’ Reputational Beliefs about Government and Health Insurance Enrollment: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Drawing on a cluster-randomized field experiment involving a government-embedded complementary health insurance program in China, this study examines the effects of program information on citizens’reputational beliefs about government and health insurance enrollment.

We find that a bundled program information intervention leads to more favorable reputational beliefs about government. The intervention also increases enrollment willingness, although the evidence is weaker under exact randomization inference, while its positive estimated effect on actual enrollment is not statistically significant. More favorable reputational beliefs about government are also positively associated with both enrollment willingness and actual enrollment.