Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics
No 835: Conditional Persistence? Historical Disease Exposure and Government Response to COVID-19
Annika Lindskog () and Ola Olsson ()
Additional contact information
Annika Lindskog: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Ola Olsson: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Abstract: In this paper, we investigate differences in government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the theory of the Behavioral Immune System and the Para-site Stress Theory, we hypothesize that a higher historical disease exposure leads to a stricter government response to the pandemic, in particular during the first year which was characterized by fundamental uncertainty. Our empirical analysis, using weekly panel data for almost every country in the world, show that a higher historical disease exposure is indeed related to a stronger response to disease dynamics, at least in the first year of the pandemic. The pattern is the same for state-level containment policies within the United States. Our results suggest that the persistence of historical legacies may not be deterministic, but rather time-varying and conditional on circumstances. Cultural norms may matter more in times of crisis and fundamental uncertainty.
Keywords: COVID-19; cultural persistence; pathogen prevalence; containment policy; behavioral immune system
Language: English
46 pages, August 2023
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