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Social capital and the spread of Covid-19: Insights from European countries

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  • Bartscher, Alina Kristin
  • Seitz, Sebastian
  • Slotwinski, Michaela
  • Wehrhöfer, Nils
  • Siegloch, Sebastian

Abstract

We explore the role of social capital in the spread of the recent Covid-19 pan­demic in independent analyses for Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Swe­den, Switzerland and the UK. We exploit within-country variation in social capital and Covid-19 cases to show that high-social-capital areas accumulated between 12% and 32% fewer Covid-19 cases per capita from mid-March until mid-May. Using Italy as a case study, we find that high-social-capital areas exhibit lower excess mortality and a decline in mobility. Our results have important implications for the design of local containment policies in future waves of the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Bartscher, Alina Kristin & Seitz, Sebastian & Slotwinski, Michaela & Wehrhöfer, Nils & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2020. "Social capital and the spread of Covid-19: Insights from European countries," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-023, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:20023
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Covid-19; social capital; collective action; health costs; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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