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The Political Economy of Early Covid-19 Interventions in US States

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  • Martín Gonzalez-Eiras
  • Dirk Niepelt

Abstract

We investigate how politico-economic factors shaped government responses to the spread of COVID-19. Our simple framework uses epidemiological, economic and politico-economic arguments. Confronting the theory with US state level data we find strong evidence for partisanship even when we control for fundamentals including the electorate's political views. Moreover, we detect an important role for the proximity of elections which we interpret as indicative of career concerns. Finally, we find suggestive evidence for complementarities between voluntary activity reductions and government imposed restrictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Martín Gonzalez-Eiras & Dirk Niepelt, 2022. "The Political Economy of Early Covid-19 Interventions in US States," CESifo Working Paper Series 9523, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9523
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    Cited by:

    1. Besley, Timothy & Dray, Sacha, 2023. "The political economy of lockdown: Does free media matter?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Arija Prieto, Pablo & Antonini, Marcello & Ammi, Mehdi & Genie, Mesfin & Paolucci, Francesco, 2024. "Political determinants of COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine rollouts: the case of regional elections in Italy and Spain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123715, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Ren, He & Zheng, Yi, 2023. "COVID-19 vaccination and household savings: An economic recovery channel," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    4. Daryna Grechyna, 2024. "Elections and policies: Evidence from the Covid pandemic," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(3), pages 812-831, August.
    5. Mart n Gonzales-Eiras, Dirk Niepelt, 2023. "Optimal Epidemic Control," Diskussionsschriften dp2311, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    6. Arija Prieto, Pablo & Antonini, Marcello & Ammi, Mehdi & Genie, Mesfin & Paolucci, Francesco, 2024. "Political determinants of COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine rollouts: The case of regional elections in Italy and Spain," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Wang, Zongrun & Zhou, Ling & Mi, Yunlong & Shi, Yong, 2022. "Measuring dynamic pandemic-related policy effects: A time-varying parameter multi-level dynamic factor model approach," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    8. Lee, Sang Yoon(Tim), 2022. "The political economy of early COVID-19 interventions in U.S. states: Comment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Covid-19; lockdown; politics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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