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Stay‐at‐home orders were issued earlier in economically unfree states

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  • Bryan C. McCannon
  • Joshua C. Hall

Abstract

Stay‐at‐home orders curtailed the individual liberty of those across the United States. Governors of some states moved swiftly to impose the lockdowns. Others delayed and a few even refused to implement these policies. We explore common narratives of what determines the speed of implementation, namely partisanship and virus exposure. While correlation exists, we show that the most consistent explanation for the speed of the implementation of these orders is the state's economic freedom. It was the economically unfree states that issued stay‐at‐home orders earlier.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryan C. McCannon & Joshua C. Hall, 2021. "Stay‐at‐home orders were issued earlier in economically unfree states," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(4), pages 1138-1151, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:87:y:2021:i:4:p:1138-1151
    DOI: 10.1002/soej.12495
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    Cited by:

    1. Vincent Miozzi & Benjamin Powell, 2023. "The pre-pandemic political economy determinants of lockdown severity," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(1), pages 167-183, October.
    2. Stefanie Haeffele & Jordan K. Lofthouse & Agustin Forzani, 2023. "The Perils of Regulating COVID–19: Insights from Kirznerian Entrepreneurship and Ostromian Polycentricity," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 331-355, September.
    3. Sezer Yasar & Ceyhun Elgin, 2024. "Democracy and fiscal-policy response to COVID-19," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 198(1), pages 25-45, January.
    4. Justin T. Callais & Jamie Bologna Pavlik, 2023. "Does economic freedom lighten the blow? Evidence from the great recession in the United States," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 357-398, September.
    5. Ostrihoň, Filip, 2022. "Exploring macroeconomic imbalances through EU Alert Mechanism Reports," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Vincent Geloso & Kelly Hyde & Ilia Murtazashvili, 2022. "Pandemics, economic freedom, and institutional trade-offs," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 37-61, August.

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