Data misreporting during the COVID19 crisis: The role of political institutions

Antonis Adam and Sofia Tsarsitalidou

Economics Letters, 2022, vol. 213, issue C

Abstract: We use Benford’s law of first digits to determine whether there is evidence of data misreporting in the total COVID19 reported cases across countries. We try to model the differences in the Mean Absolute Deviation of actual data from those predicted by Benford’s law to indicate the factors that lead to data misreporting using regression analysis. Using the Instrumental Variable model of Lewbel (2012) and Settler Mortality as an external instrument for democracy, we show that autocratic countries are more likely to misreport the COVID19 cases.

Keywords: Democracy; Data misreporting; COVID19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 I18 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:213:y:2022:i:c:s016517652200043x

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2022.110348

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