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Are COVID Fatalities in the US Higher Than in the EU, and If So, Why?

Author

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  • Aparicio Fenoll, Ainoa

    (University of Turin)

  • Grossbard, Shoshana

    (San Diego State University)

Abstract

The COVID crisis has severely hit both the United States and the European Union. Even though they are the wealthiest regions in the world, they differ substantially in economic performance, demographic characteristics, type of government, health systems, and measures undertaken to counteract COVID. We construct comparable measures of the incidence of the COVID crisis and find that US states had more COVID-related deaths than EU countries. When taking account of demographic, economic, and political factors (but not health-policy related factors) we find that fatalities at 100 days since onset are 1.3 % higher in a US state than in an EU country. The US/EU gap disappears when we take account of health-policy related factors. Differences in number of beds per capita, number of tests, and early lockdown measures help explain the higher impact of COVID on US fatalities measured either 50 or 100 days after the epidemic started in a nation/state.

Suggested Citation

  • Aparicio Fenoll, Ainoa & Grossbard, Shoshana, 2020. "Are COVID Fatalities in the US Higher Than in the EU, and If So, Why?," IZA Discussion Papers 13683, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13683
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    1. Alexander Ahammer & Martin Halla & Mario Lackner, 2020. "Mass Gatherings Contributed to Early COVID-19 Mortality: Evidence from US Sports," Economics working papers 2020-13, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    2. Aparicio Fenoll, Ainoa & Grossbard, Shoshana, 2020. "Intergenerational residence patterns and Covid-19 fatalities in the EU and the US," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    3. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    4. Jeffrey E. Harris, 2020. "Reopening Under COVID-19: What to Watch For," NBER Working Papers 27166, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Laliotis, Ioannis & Minos, Dimitrios, 2020. "Spreading the disease: The role of culture," SocArXiv z4ndc, Center for Open Science.
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    2. Tim F. Liao, 2022. "A Study of Cumulative COVID-19 Mortality Trends Associated with Ethnic-Racial Composition, Income Inequality, and Party Inclination among US Counties," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-8, November.
    3. Egor Malkov, 2021. "Spousal Occupational Sorting and COVID-19 Incidence: Evidence from the United States," Papers 2107.14350, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    4. Jonas Herby & Lars Jonung & Steve Hanke, 2022. "A Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Lockdowns on COVID-19 Mortality," Studies in Applied Economics 200, The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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