IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/italej/v11y2025i3d10.1007_s40797-024-00285-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unravelling the Web: The Internet’s Double-Edged Impact on COVID-19 Dynamics

Author

Listed:
  • Vincenzo Alfano

    (University of Napoli Parthenope)

Abstract

The intricate relationship between Internet access, freedom, and the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic remains a crucial topic, important both for understanding what happened and for improving the response to future crises. This study investigates the impact of the share of Internet users, and its relationship with Internet freedom, on the COVID-19 transmission rate, addressing research questions regarding the interplay between these factors. Analyzing a panel dataset of 60 countries during the first wave, hybrid F-GLS models reveal that an increased number of Internet users correlates with a larger number of new daily COVID-19 cases. Conversely, the interaction between Internet users and net freedom attenuates the positive relationship between users and case counts, implying that the latter has a moderating role. These findings emphasize the multifaceted nature of the Internet’s influence on pandemic dynamics, and highlight how it acts both as a facilitator and a constraint.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincenzo Alfano, 2025. "Unravelling the Web: The Internet’s Double-Edged Impact on COVID-19 Dynamics," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 11(3), pages 1153-1178, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:italej:v:11:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s40797-024-00285-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s40797-024-00285-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40797-024-00285-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40797-024-00285-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:italej:v:11:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s40797-024-00285-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.