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Assessing the Impact of Policy Measures in Reducing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of South Asia

Author

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  • Dilawar Khan

    (Department of Economics, Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat 26000, Pakistan)

  • Nihal Ahmed

    (Department of Economics, Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat 26000, Pakistan)

  • Bahtiyar Mehmed

    (Department of Economics, Neusoft Institute Guangdong, Foshan 528225, China)

  • Ihtisham ul Haq

    (Department of Economics, Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat 26000, Pakistan)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is considered to be the world’s most urgent health disaster and the greatest challenge humanity has faced since World War II. One of the most significant concerns is the effectiveness of the extraordinary efforts undertaken around the world to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This study applied the Westerlund cointegration test and the Pooled Mean Group–Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PMG-ARDL) model to investigate the effectiveness of government policy measures in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic using weekly data for the period 1 January 2020 to 31 May 2021. The results of the Westerlund cointegration test validate the presence of a cointegration relationship between government policy measures and the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, results of PMG-ARDL show that economic support, stringency, and health and containment measures play a significant role in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study concluded that pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical measures have a substantial impact on mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic in South Asia. Policy implications such as government financial support for poor families, stringency, and health and containment measures must be adopted during the pandemic to curb/reduce the spread of COVID-19. Furthermore, it is also recommended to provide vaccines free of charge to developing countries and a stimulus package to support health research to expand the capacity for rapid vaccine in this region.

Suggested Citation

  • Dilawar Khan & Nihal Ahmed & Bahtiyar Mehmed & Ihtisham ul Haq, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of Policy Measures in Reducing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of South Asia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:20:p:11315-:d:655444
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    2. Mustafa Özer & Serap Kamisli & Fatih Temizel & Melik Kamisli, 2022. "Are COVID-19-Related Economic Supports One of the Drivers of Surge in Bitcoin Market? Evidence from Linear and Non-Linear Causality Tests," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-24, December.
    3. Louafi Bouzouina & Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp, 2022. "Impact of immobility and mobility activities on the spread of COVID‐19: Evidence from European countries," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(S1), pages 6-20, November.

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