Face Masks Considerably Reduce COVID-19 Cases in Germany: A Synthetic Control Method Approach

Timo Mitze, Reinhold Kosfeld (), Johannes Rode and Klaus Wälde

No 13319, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We use the synthetic control method to analyze the effect of face masks on the spread of Covid-19 in Germany. Our identification approach exploits regional variation in the point in time when face masks became compulsory. Depending on the region we analyse, we find that face masks reduced the cumulative number of registered Covid-19 cases between 2.3% and 13% over a period of 10 days after they became compulsory. Assessing the credibility of the various estimates, we conclude that face masks reduce the daily growth rate of reported infections by around 40%.

Keywords: synthetic control method; face masks; public health measures; COVID-19; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2020-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-hea and nep-ore
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (46)

Published - published in: PNAS, 2020, 117 (5), 32293-32301

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Working Paper: Face Masks Considerably Reduce Covid-19 Cases in Germany - A Synthetic Control Method Approach (2020)
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