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Coronagraben in Switzerland: Culture and social distancing in times of COVID-19

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  • Deopa, Neha
  • Fortunato, Piergiuseppe

Abstract

Social distancing measures help contain the spread of COVID-19 but the actual compliance has varied substantially across space and time. We ask whether cultural differences underlie this heterogeneity using mobility data across Switzerland between February and December 2020. We find that German-speaking cantons decreased their mobility for non essential activities significantly less than the French-speaking cantons. However, we find no such significant differences for the bilingual cantons. Contrary to the evidence in the literature, we find that within the Swiss context, high trusting areas exhibited a lower decline in mobility. Additionally, cantons supporting a limited role of the state in matters of welfare also displayed a lower mobility reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Deopa, Neha & Fortunato, Piergiuseppe, 2021. "Coronagraben in Switzerland: Culture and social distancing in times of COVID-19," GLO Discussion Paper Series 857, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:n857
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    2. Gavresi, Despina & Litina, Anastasia, 2023. "Past exposure to macroeconomic shocks and populist attitudes in Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 989-1010.
    3. Kebin Deng & Zhong Ding & Xu Liu, 2023. "Clan loyalty and COVID‐19 diffusion: Evidence from China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 910-938, April.
    4. Juvalta, Sibylle & Speranza, Camilla & Robin, Dominik & El Maohub, Yassmeen & Krasselt, Julia & Dreesen, Philipp & Dratva, Julia & Suggs, L. Suzanne, 2023. "Young people's media use and adherence to preventive measures in the “infodemic”: Is it masked by political ideology?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    5. Guilhem Cassan & Marc Sangnier, 2022. "The impact of 2020 French municipal elections on the spread of COVID-19," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 963-988, July.
    6. Neha Deopa & Piergiuseppe Fortunato, 2022. "Language and the cultural markers of COVID-19," Post-Print hal-03665755, HAL.
    7. Deopa, Neha & Fortunato, Piergiuseppe, 2022. "Language and the cultural markers of COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    8. Despina Gavresi & Anastasia Litina & George Mavropoulos & Sofia Tsitou, 2024. "The Role of Gender and Family Norms on the COVID-19 Spread in Europe," Discussion Paper Series 2024_06, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised Jun 2024.
    9. Mauro Caselli & Andrea Fracasso & Sergio Scicchitano, 2022. "From the lockdown to the new normal: individual mobility and local labor market characteristics following the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1517-1550, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; culture; social distancing; trust; redistribution; mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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