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The Virus of Fear: The Political Impact of Ebola in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Filipe Campante
  • Emilio Depetris-Chauvin
  • Ruben Durante

Abstract

We study how public anxiety over the threat of a disease outbreak can affect voter behavior by looking at the Ebola scare that hit the United States in 2014. Exploiting timing and locations of the four cases diagnosed in the country, we show that heightened concern about Ebola led to a lower Democratic vote share and lower turnout, despite no evidence of a general anti-incumbent effect (including President Obama). Voters displayed increasingly conservative attitudes on immigration, but not on other ideologically charged issues. Our findings indicate that emotional reactions can have a strong electoral impact, mediated by issues plausibly associated with the specific triggering factor.

Suggested Citation

  • Filipe Campante & Emilio Depetris-Chauvin & Ruben Durante, 2024. "The Virus of Fear: The Political Impact of Ebola in the United States," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 480-509, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:16:y:2024:i:1:p:480-509
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20220030
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    Cited by:

    1. Bauernschuster, Stefan & Blum, Matthias & Hornung, Erik & Koenig, Christoph, 2025. "The political effects of the 1918 influenza pandemic in Weimar Germany," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    2. Graeber, Daniel & Meister, Lorenz & Poutvaara, Panu, 2024. "Restrictions to civil liberties in a pandemic and satisfaction with democracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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