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Stay at Home! Governance Quality and Effectiveness of Lockdown

Author

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  • Vincenzo Alfano

    (University of Napoli Federico II
    Center for Economic Studies - CESifo)

  • Salvatore Ercolano

    (University of Basilicata)

Abstract

In order to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first wave of the pandemic numerous countries decided to adopt lockdown policies. It had been a considerable time since such measures were last introduced, and the first time that they were implemented on such a global scale in a contemporary, information intensive society. The effectiveness of such measures may depend on how citizens perceive the capacity of government to set up and implement sound policies. Indeed, lockdown and confinement policies in general are binding measures that people are not used to, and which raise serious concerns among the population. For this reason governance quality could affect the perception of the benefits related to the government’s choice to impose lockdown, making citizens more inclined to accept it and restrict their movements. In the present paper we empirically investigate the relation between the efficacy of lockdown and governance quality (measured through World Governance Indicators). Our results suggest that countries with higher levels of government effectiveness, rule of law and regulatory quality reach better results in adopting lockdown measures.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:159:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-021-02742-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-021-02742-3
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    1. 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).
    2. 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).
    3. 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).
    4. 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).
    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. Xiaozhe Peng & Jiajun Huang & Kaixin Liang & Xinli Chi, 2022. "The Association of Social Emotions, Perceived Efficiency, Transparency of the Government, Concerns about COVID-19, and Confidence in Fighting the Pandemic under the Week-Long Lockdown in Shenzhen, Chi," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-17, September.
    7. Vytautas Kuokštis & Ringailė Kuokštytė, 2023. "How Institutions Moderated the Pandemic's Economic Impact in EU Member States," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 503-525, March.
    8. Ming-Sin Choong & Ying-Che Hsieh & Chan-Yuan Wong, 2024. "Resilient or Resistant: Pandemic Crisis and Early Observations of Different Preventive Capabilities from Cumulativeness of Scientific Research Points of View," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 11976-12005, September.
    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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Lockdown; Non-pharmaceutical intervention; Effects of governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

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