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The impact of access to financial services on mitigating COVID-19 mortality globally

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  • Todd A Watkins
  • Khue Nguyen
  • Hamza Ali
  • Rishikesh Gummakonda
  • Jacques Pelman
  • Brianna Taracena

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected different social and demographic groups, deepening the negative health implications of social and economic inequalities and highlighting the importance of social determinants of health. Despite a deep literature on pandemic-related disparities, specifically regarding social determinants and health outcomes, the influence of the accessibility of financial services on health outcomes during COVID-19 remains largely unexplored. Modeling (pre-omicron) COVID-19 mortality across 142 nations, we assess the impact of national-level usage and access to formal financial services. Two financial access indexes constructed through principal component analysis capture (1) usage of and access to formal financial tools and (2) reliance on alternative and informal financial tools. On average, nations with higher pre-pandemic use of and access to formal financial services had substantially lower population mortality risk from COVID-19, controlling for key population health, demographic, and socioeconomic covariates. The scale of effect is similar in magnitude—but opposite in direction—to major risk factors identified in previous literature, such as lung cancer, hypertension, and income inequality. Findings suggest that financial services deserve greater attention both in the public health literature related to COVID-19 and more broadly in policy discussions about fostering better public health overall.

Suggested Citation

  • Todd A Watkins & Khue Nguyen & Hamza Ali & Rishikesh Gummakonda & Jacques Pelman & Brianna Taracena, 2023. "The impact of access to financial services on mitigating COVID-19 mortality globally," PLOS Global Public Health, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(3), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pgph00:0001137
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001137
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christoph Görtz & Danny McGowan & Mallory Yeromonahos, 2023. "Furlough and Household Financial Distress during the COVID‐19 Pandemic," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 85(6), pages 1157-1184, December.
    2. Magali Valero & Jorge Noel Valero-Gil, 2021. "Determinants of the number of deaths from COVID-19: differences between low-income and high-income countries in the initial stages of the pandemic," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 48(9), pages 1229-1244, May.
    3. Emily Brown Weida & Pam Phojanakong & Falguni Patel & Mariana Chilton, 2020. "Financial health as a measurable social determinant of health," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, May.
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