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Determinants of the Community Mobility during the COVID-19 Epidemic: The Role of Government Regulations and Information

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  • Mendolia, Silvia

    (University of Torino)

  • Stavrunova, Olena

    (University of Technology, Sydney)

  • Yerokhin, Oleg

    (University of Wollongong)

Abstract

This paper studies the dynamics of human mobility during the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in countries around the world. The main goal of the analysis is to empirically separate voluntary reductions in mobility driven by the information about the location-specific pandemic trends from the effects of the government-imposed social distancing mandates. Google human mobility dataset is used to track the dynamics of mobility across a wide range of categories (e.g. workplace, retail and recreational activities, etc), while information on country-specific counts of COVID-19 cases and deaths is used as a proxy for the information about the spread of the pandemic available to the population. A detailed index of stringency of the government-imposed social distancing policies in around 100 countries is used as a measure of government response. We find that human mobility does respond in a significant way to the information about the spread of the pandemic. This channel can explain about 14% of the overall reduction in mobility across the affected countries. At the same time, our results imply that government-imposed policies account for the majority of the reduction in the mobility observed during this period.

Suggested Citation

  • Mendolia, Silvia & Stavrunova, Olena & Yerokhin, Oleg, 2020. "Determinants of the Community Mobility during the COVID-19 Epidemic: The Role of Government Regulations and Information," IZA Discussion Papers 13778, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13778
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    group fixed effects; COVID-19; mobility; government response; information;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General

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