IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/110563.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

What Drove the First Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic? The Role of Institutions and Leader Attributes

Author

Listed:
  • Hartwell, Christopher A.

Abstract

What determines how a national government reacts in a crisis? The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to explore leadership behavior and crisis management, and this paper examines what drove the extent of the lockdown in countries around the world during the first wave of coronavirus. In particular, this paper posits that many of the policies undertaken were “extraordinary,” that is unlike those ever implemented or complemented by the leaders in charge at the start of the pandemic. Utilizing new and high-frequency data on government responses to COVID-19 and novel statistical techniques, the results of this analysis are that institutions and leadership attributes both matter, but for different policies; where the response called for more ‘normal” policies, it appeared that institutional mechanisms were adequate and played the largest role in influencing the extent of the lockdown. On the other hand, where the policies contemplated were very far from the ordinary (including stay-at-home orders or prohibitions on internal travel), the attributes of the leader determined the stringency of the lockdown more than institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Hartwell, Christopher A., 2021. "What Drove the First Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic? The Role of Institutions and Leader Attributes," MPRA Paper 110563, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:110563
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/110563/1/MPRA_paper_110563.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sebastian Kripfganz & Claudia Schwarz, 2019. "Estimation of linear dynamic panel data models with time‐invariant regressors," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 526-546, June.
    2. Ferreira, Fernando & Gyourko, Joseph, 2014. "Does gender matter for political leadership? The case of U.S. mayors," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 24-39.
    3. Björn Meder & Fabrice Le Lec & Magda Osman, 2013. "Decision making in uncertain times: what can cognitive and decision sciences say about or learn from economic crises?," Post-Print hal-01044593, HAL.
    4. Keele, Luke, 2015. "The Statistics of Causal Inference: A View from Political Methodology," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 313-335, July.
    5. Denis Medvedev & Martin Rama & Yuki Ikeda, 2019. "Advanced‐country policies and emerging‐market currencies: The impact of US tapering on India's rupee," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 35-52, May.
    6. 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.
    7. M. Hashem Pesaran & Qiankun Zhou, 2018. "Estimation of time-invariant effects in static panel data models," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1137-1171, November.
    8. Paolo Bajardi & Chiara Poletto & Jose J Ramasco & Michele Tizzoni & Vittoria Colizza & Alessandro Vespignani, 2011. "Human Mobility Networks, Travel Restrictions, and the Global Spread of 2009 H1N1 Pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(1), pages 1-8, January.
    9. Sumon Majumdar & Sharun W. Mukand, 2004. "Policy Gambles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1207-1222, September.
    10. Phillip Swagel, 2015. "Legal, Political, and Institutional Constraints on the Financial Crisis Policy Response," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(2), pages 107-122, Spring.
    11. Timothy Besley & Masayuki Kudamatsu, 2006. "Health and Democracy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 313-318, May.
    12. Correa, H. & Namkoong, K., 1992. "Determinants and effects of health policy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 41-63, February.
    13. Christopher A. Hartwell, 2013. "Institutional Barriers in the Transition to Market," Studies in Economic Transition, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-32371-2, February.
    14. J. Birkmann & P. Buckle & J. Jaeger & M. Pelling & N. Setiadi & M. Garschagen & N. Fernando & J. Kropp, 2010. "Extreme events and disasters: a window of opportunity for change? Analysis of organizational, institutional and political changes, formal and informal responses after mega-disasters," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 55(3), pages 637-655, December.
    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. Dilmaghani, Maryam, 2021. "The gender gap in competitive chess across countries: Commanding queens in command economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 425-441.
    2. Anja Baum & Clay Hacknay & Paulo Medas & Mouhamadou Sy, 2024. "Governance and state-owned enterprises: how costly is corruption?," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 181-208, June.
    3. Ms. Anja Baum & Clay Hackney & Mr. Paulo A Medas & Mouhamadou Sy, 2019. "Governance and State-Owned Enterprises: How Costly is Corruption?," IMF Working Papers 2019/253, International Monetary Fund.
    4. David M. Zimmer, 2024. "The effects of infant daycare on later‐in‐life employment outcomes," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(1), pages 143-156, January.
    5. Maria Elena Bontempi & Jan Ditzen, 2023. "GMM-lev estimation and individual heterogeneity: Monte Carlo evidence and empirical applications," Papers 2312.00399, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2023.
    6. Sebastian Kripfganz, 2017. "Sequential (two-stage) estimation of linear panel data models," United Kingdom Stata Users' Group Meetings 2017 09, Stata Users Group.
    7. Shokoohi, Zeinab & Saghaian, Sayed, 2022. "Nexus of energy and food nutrition prices in oil importing and exporting countries: A panel VAR model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    8. Mastey, Rebecca R & Georgiou, Michalis & Langlo, Christopher S & Kalitzeos, Angelos & Patterson, Emily J & Kane, Thomas & Singh, Navjit & Vincent, Ajoy & Moore, Anthony T & Tsang, Stephen H & Lin, Jon, 2019. "Characterization of Retinal Structure in ATF6-Associated Achromatopsia," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt1n6957hk, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    9. McDonald, Rebecca & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2018. "The Shadow Prices of Voluntary Caregiving: Using Panel Data of Well-Being to Estimate the Cost of Informal Care," IZA Discussion Papers 11545, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Hartwell, Christopher A., 2014. "The impact of institutional volatility on financial volatility in transition economies : a GARCH family approach," BOFIT Discussion Papers 6/2014, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    11. Florent Silve & Alexander Plekhanov, 2018. "Institutions, innovation and growth : Evidence from industry data," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(3), pages 335-362, July.
    12. V. Bhaskar & Caroline Thomas, 2019. "The Culture of Overconfidence," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 95-110, June.
    13. Ahmed Shoukry Rashad, 2014. "The Catastrophic Economic Consequences of Illness and their Effect on Poverty Estimates in Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine," Working Papers 842, Economic Research Forum, revised Oct 2014.
    14. Touria Jaaidane & Sophie Larribeau, 2023. "Partisanship and the effectiveness of Fiscal Equalization: Evidence from French Municipalities," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes & University of Caen) 2023-01, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes, University of Caen and CNRS.
    15. Joo, Hailey Hayeon & Lee, Jungmin, 2018. "Encountering female politicians," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 88-122.
    16. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Sonia Bhalotra & Brian Min & Yogesh Uppal, 2024. "Women legislators and economic performance," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 151-214, June.
    17. 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).
    18. Vu, Trung V., 2020. "Economic complexity and health outcomes: A global perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    19. Prato, Carlo & Wolton, Stephane, 2018. "Rational ignorance, populism, and reform," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 119-135.
    20. Muricho, G. & Kulundu, D. & Sule, F., 2018. "Impact Assessment of Agricultural Commercialization on Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya: An Application of Correlated Random Effects," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277325, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; leadership; crisis management; decision-making; institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • P5 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems

    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:pra:mprapa:110563. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.