IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v107y2023ics2214804323001246.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

God or good health? Evidence on belief in God in relation to public health during a pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Alfano, Vincenzo

Abstract

Religion has played a role in facilitating the coexistence of many people, hence making complex societies possible. Since secularization, its role has apparently become less important, even though crises tend to push people towards religion. Did a belief in God play a role in the public's behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic? The literature suggests that during a crisis more and more people find comfort in religion. Using data about the share of believers and the evolution of the contagion in three different sets of countries, by means of a quantitative analysis that employs hybrid models, we find evidence of a positive relationship between the share of citizens that believe in God and the trend in COVID-19 infections. This suggests that believing in God does not help the coexistence of a large number of people in this setting, and provides lessons regarding ways to implement stricter non-pharmaceutical interventions in these countries that will achieve better results.

Suggested Citation

  • Alfano, Vincenzo, 2023. "God or good health? Evidence on belief in God in relation to public health during a pandemic," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:107:y:2023:i:c:s2214804323001246
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2023.102098
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804323001246
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socec.2023.102098?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristian Soltesz & Fredrik Gustafsson & Toomas Timpka & Joakim Jaldén & Carl Jidling & Albin Heimerson & Thomas B. Schön & Armin Spreco & Joakim Ekberg & Örjan Dahlström & Fredrik Bagge Carlson & Anna, 2020. "The effect of interventions on COVID-19," Nature, Nature, vol. 588(7839), pages 26-28, December.
    2. Vincenzo Alfano, 2022. "Does social capital enforce social distancing? The role of bridging and bonding social capital in the evolution of the pandemic," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 839-859, October.
    3. Vincenzo Alfano & Massimo Guarino & Francesca Rotondo, 2023. "In Hoc Signo Vinces—an Exploratory Study on the Impact of Religion on Violence in Sport," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 200-214, September.
    4. Hodrick, Robert J & Prescott, Edward C, 1997. "Postwar U.S. Business Cycles: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 29(1), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Reinhard Schunck, 2013. "Within and between estimates in random-effects models: Advantages and drawbacks of correlated random effects and hybrid models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 13(1), pages 65-76, March.
    6. Alexander Ahammer & Martin Halla & Mario Lackner, 2023. "Mass gatherings contributed to early COVID‐19 mortality: Evidence from US sports," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(3), pages 471-488, July.
    7. Bargain, Olivier & Aminjonov, Ulugbek, 2020. "Trust and compliance to public health policies in times of COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    8. Vincenzo Alfano & Salvatore Ercolano, 2020. "The Efficacy of Lockdown Against COVID-19: A Cross-Country Panel Analysis," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 509-517, August.
    9. Guiso, Luigi & Sapienza, Paola & Zingales, Luigi, 2003. "People's opium? Religion and economic attitudes," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 225-282, January.
    10. James D. Hamilton, 2018. "Why You Should Never Use the Hodrick-Prescott Filter," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(5), pages 831-843, December.
    11. Alfano, Vincenzo & Capasso, Salvatore & Ercolano, Salvatore & Goel, Rajeev K., 2022. "Death takes no bribes: Impact of perceived corruption on the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions at combating COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    12. Vincenzo Alfano & Salvatore Ercolano, 2022. "Stay at Home! Governance Quality and Effectiveness of Lockdown," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 101-123, January.
    13. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    14. Alfano, Vincenzo & Ercolano, Salvatore, 2021. "Social capital, quality of institutions and lockdown. Evidence from Italian provinces," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 31-41.
    15. Ho Fai Chan & Martin Brumpton & Alison Macintyre & Jefferson Arapoc & David A Savage & Ahmed Skali & David Stadelmann & Benno Torgler, 2020. "How confidence in health care systems affects mobility and compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, October.
    16. Seth Flaxman & Swapnil Mishra & James Scott & Neil Ferguson & Axel Gandy & Samir Bhatt, 2020. "Reply to: The effect of interventions on COVID-19," Nature, Nature, vol. 588(7839), pages 29-32, December.
    17. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, 2019. "Acts of God? Religiosity and Natural Disasters Across Subnational World Districts," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(622), pages 2295-2321.
    18. Bradley Ruffle & Richard Sosis, 2003. "Religious ritual and cooperation: Testing for a relationship on israeli religious and secular kibbutzim," Artefactual Field Experiments 00103, The Field Experiments Website.
    19. Rachel M. McCleary & Robert J. Barro, 2006. "Religion and Economy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 49-72, Spring.
    20. Kelsey E. Gonzalez & Rina James & Eric T. Bjorklund & Terrence D. Hill, 2021. "Conservatism and infrequent mask usage: A study of US counties during the novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2368-2382, September.
    21. Alfano, Vincenzo & Ercolano, Salvatore & Cicatiello, Lorenzo, 2021. "School openings and the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. A provincial-level analysis using the synthetic control method," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(9), pages 1200-1207.
    22. Vincenzo Alfano, 2022. "Work ethics, stay-at-home measures and COVID-19 diffusion," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(5), pages 893-901, July.
    23. Vincenzo Alfano, 2022. "The Effects of School Closures on COVID-19: A Cross-Country Panel Analysis," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 223-233, March.
    24. Alfano, Vincenzo & Ercolano, Salvatore, 2022. "Back to school or … back to lockdown? The effects of opening schools on the diffusion of COVID-19 in Italian regions," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    25. Alfano, Vincenzo & Ercolano, Salvatore & Pinto, Mauro, 2022. "Fighting the COVID pandemic: National policy choices in non-pharmaceutical interventions," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 22-40.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alfano, Vincenzo & Capasso, Salvatore & Ercolano, Salvatore & Goel, Rajeev K., 2022. "Death takes no bribes: Impact of perceived corruption on the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions at combating COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    2. Alfano, Vincenzo & Guarino, Massimo, 2023. "The effect of self-esteem on the spread of a pandemic. A cross-country analysis of the role played by self-esteem in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    3. Alfano, Vincenzo & Ercolano, Salvatore & Pinto, Mauro, 2022. "Carrot and stick: Economic support and stringency policies in response to COVID-19," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Alfano, Vincenzo, 2024. "Unlocking the importance of perceived governance: The impact on COVID-19 in NUTS-2 European regions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 343(C).
    5. Alfano, Vincenzo & Ercolano, Salvatore, 2023. "Fear itself. Is fear a determinant of the efficacy oflockdowns?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Alfano, Vincenzo & Ercolano, Salvatore, 2022. "Back to school or … back to lockdown? The effects of opening schools on the diffusion of COVID-19 in Italian regions," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    7. Vincenzo Alfano, 2022. "Does social capital enforce social distancing? The role of bridging and bonding social capital in the evolution of the pandemic," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 839-859, October.
    8. Vincenzo Alfano, 2022. "Work ethics, stay-at-home measures and COVID-19 diffusion," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(5), pages 893-901, July.
    9. Vincenzo Alfano, 2022. "COVID-19 Diffusion Before Awareness: The Role of Football Match Attendance in Italy," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 503-523, June.
    10. Valencia Caicedo, Felipe & Dohmen, Thomas & Pondorfer, Andreas, 2023. "Religion and cooperation across the globe," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 479-489.
    11. López-Mendoza, Héctor & González-Álvarez, María A. & Montañés, Antonio, 2024. "Assessing the effectiveness of international government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    12. Lopez-Medoza, Hector & González-Álvarez, Maria A. & Montañés, Antonio, 2023. "Assessing the effectiveness of international government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic," MPRA Paper 117826, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Lattanzio, Salvatore, 2024. "Schools and the transmission of Sars-Cov-2: Evidence from Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    14. Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding, 2021. "In crisis, we pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 541-583.
    15. Vincenzo Alfano & Salvatore Ercolano, 2023. "Measuring Tight and Loose Cultures across NUTS-2 Regions: The Regional Index of Looseness," CESifo Working Paper Series 10731, CESifo.
    16. Vincenzo Alfano & Salvatore Ercolano, 2022. "Stay at Home! Governance Quality and Effectiveness of Lockdown," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 101-123, January.
    17. Hasan, Iftekhar & Manfredonia, Stefano & Noth, Felix, 2020. "Cultural resilience and economic recovery: Evidence from Hurricane Katrina," IWH Discussion Papers 16/2020, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    18. Basedau, Matthias & Gobien, Simone & Prediger, Sebastian, 2017. "The Ambivalent Role of Religion for Sustainable Development: A Review of the Empirical Evidence," GIGA Working Papers 297, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    19. Janbani, Zahra & Osmani, Freshteh, 2023. "Performance of two educational approaches in increasing knowledge of high-school students about COVID-19 during the first wave of pandemic," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    20. Mingolla, Stefano & Lu, Zhongming, 2022. "Impact of implementation timing on the effectiveness of stay-at-home requirement under the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons from the Italian Case," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(6), pages 504-511.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    God; NPI; Belief in God; COVID-19; Pandemic; Hybrid model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:107:y:2023:i:c:s2214804323001246. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620175 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.