The Interplay of Policy, Institutions, and Culture in the Time of COVID-19
This paper examines cross-country evidence of how the Covid-19 pandemic spread and the mortality rates associated with preexisting vulnerabilities, the government’s mobility restriction policy, institutions (democracy), and culture (individualistic...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/372411604669851394/The-Interplay-of-Policy-Institutions-and-Culture-in-the-Time-of-Covid-19 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34771 |
| Summary: | This paper examines cross-country
evidence of how the Covid-19 pandemic spread and the
mortality rates associated with preexisting vulnerabilities,
the government’s mobility restriction policy, institutions
(democracy), and culture (individualistic culture and
trust). Preexisting vulnerabilities (that is, the share of
the elderly, urbanization, obesity prevalence, and air
pollution) increase the spread of the pandemic and/or the
mortality rate. On average, the government policy delay in
mobility restriction, democracy, and culture indicators are
not significantly associated with the pandemic outcomes.
However, government delay in restricting mobility
drastically amplifies the positive association between
preexisting vulnerabilities and pandemic mortality.
Individualistic culture and general trust amplify the
positive links between pandemic mortality and the share of
elderly people or urbanization. The analysis shows that in
modeling the pandemic outcomes, it is important to consider
cross-country spatial interactions. |
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