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Fear of COVID‐19 contagion and consumption: Evidence from a survey of Italian households

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  • Giovanni Immordino
  • Tullio Jappelli
  • Tommaso Oliviero
  • Alberto Zazzaro

Abstract

Using a new survey of Italian households, we study the effect of fear of COVID‐19 contagion and income risk on consumption. The survey elicits individual‐level indicators of fear of contagion, distinguishing between worries while working, shopping, traveling, eating out and meeting relatives or friends. We find that the probabilities of consumption drops and increased saving after the pandemics are positively associated to fear of contagion, particularly while shopping. Income uncertainty also contributes to savings increase and consumption drop. Our findings suggest that fear of contagion and income risk limits the effectiveness of policies aimed at stimulating consumption during the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Giovanni Immordino & Tullio Jappelli & Tommaso Oliviero & Alberto Zazzaro, 2022. "Fear of COVID‐19 contagion and consumption: Evidence from a survey of Italian households," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 496-507, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:31:y:2022:i:3:p:496-507
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.4464
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    3. Franzoni, Federico & Lucifora, Claudio & Russo, Antonio Giampiero & Vigani, Daria, 2025. "In the eye of the storm. Long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare utilization in Lombardy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Ragnar E. Juelsrud & Ella Getz Wold, 2025. "The Importance of Unemployment Risk for Individual Savings," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(8), pages 6746-6769, August.
    5. Yao, Dongmin & Xu, Aohan & Zhang, Shiyu & Yu, Shuguang, 2025. "Centuries of memory: Historical disasters and modern household savings," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(PA).
    6. Elisa Guglielminetti & Concetta Rondinelli, 2021. "Consumption and saving patterns in Italy during Covid-19," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 620, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. Schiopu, Andreea Fortuna & Hornoiu, Remus Ion & Padurean, Ana Mihaela & Nica, Ana-Maria, 2022. "Constrained and virtually traveling? Exploring the effect of travel constraints on intention to use virtual reality in tourism," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Naoki Tani, 2023. "True Impact of Japan's Covid State of Emergency on Consumption," KIER Working Papers 1092, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    9. Byungjin Park & Joonmo Cho, 2023. "COVID-19 and Age Disparity in Credit Card Expenditures in Korea: Implications on the Government Relief Fund," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    10. Chiara Sotis & Miriam Allena & Renny Reyes & Alessandro Romano, 2021. "COVID-19 Vaccine Passport and International Traveling: The Combined Effect of Two Nudges on Americans’ Support for the Pass," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-17, August.
    11. Kikuchi, Junichi & Nagao, Ryoya & Nakazono, Yoshiyuki, 2023. "Expenditure responses to the COVID-19 pandemic," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Giuseppe Rose & Desiré De Luca, 2024. "Health Concerns And Consumption Expectations During Covid-19: Evidence From A Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design," Working Papers 202401, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    13. Maria Giovanna Brandano & Alessandra Faggian & Adriana C Pinate, 2024. "The impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector in Italy: A regional spatial perspective," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(8), pages 2181-2202, December.
    14. Giovanni Immordino & Tullio Jappelli & Tommaso Oliviero, 2024. "Consumption and income expectations during Covid-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 95-116, March.
    15. Di Wang & Teng-peng Chen & Zhong-hua Shi, 2023. "The Effect of Individual Preferences on Precautionary Behaviors in Vaccine Taking, Saving, and Physical Activity," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(11), pages 22-43, November.
    16. Junichi Kikuchi & Ryoya Nagao & Yoshiyuki Nakazono, 2021. "Fear of COVID-19 Contagion: The Idiosyncratic Effects of an Aggregate Pandemic Shock," ISER Discussion Paper 1144, Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of Osaka.
    17. Kleimeier, Stefanie & Hoffmann, Arvid O.I. & Broihanne, Marie-Hélène & Plotkina, Daria & Göritz, Anja S., 2023. "Determinants of individuals’ objective and subjective financial fragility during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    18. Tullio, Federico, 2025. "Dynamics and measurement error in household income data collected with single questions," MPRA Paper 124151, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Gambacorta, Leonardo & Jappelli, Tullio & Oliviero, Tommaso, 2025. "Exploring Household Adoption and Usage of Generative AI: New Evidence from Italy," CEPR Discussion Papers 20762, Centre for Economic Policy Research.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D15 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving

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