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Containment measures during the COVID pandemic: The role of non-pharmaceutical health policies

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  • Funke, Michael
  • Ho, Tai-kuang
  • Tsang, Andrew

Abstract

Many countries have imposed a set of non-pharmaceutical health policy interventions in an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this paper is to examine the effects of the interventions, drawing on evidence from the OECD countries. A special feature here is the mechanism that underlies the impact of the containment policies. To this end, a causal mediation analysis decomposing the total effect into a direct and an indirect effect is conducted. The key finding is a dual cause-effect channel. On the one hand, there is a direct effect of the non-pharmaceutical interventions on the various health variables. Beyond this, a quantitatively dominant indirect impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions operating via voluntary changes in social distancing is shown.

Suggested Citation

  • Funke, Michael & Ho, Tai-kuang & Tsang, Andrew, 2023. "Containment measures during the COVID pandemic: The role of non-pharmaceutical health policies," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 90-102.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:45:y:2023:i:1:p:90-102
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2022.12.001
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19 pandemic; non-pharmaceutical interventions; mediation analysis; causal effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • C54 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Quantitative Policy Modeling
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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