Self-restraint behavior under COVID-19 through stigma: Theory and evidence based on mobility data

Yuya Katafuchi, Kenichi Kurita () and Shunsuke Managi

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This study conducts both theoretical and empirical analyses of how the non-legally-binding policies originating from COVID-19 affect people's going-out behavior. The theoretical analysis assumes that under a declared state of emergency, the individual going out suffers psychological costs arising from both the risk of infection and the stigma of going out. Thus, a hypothesis is derived that under a declared state of emergency, going out entails a strong psychological cost, and thus people refrain from going out. In the empirical analysis, this study estimates the model using a set of panel data from regional mobility data and from emergency declarations at the prefectural level to analyze self-restraint behavior under a non-legally binding emergency declaration. The results reveal that, compared with the pre-declaration of the state of emergency, going-out behavior under and after lifting of the state of emergency was suppressed even when the going-out behavior did not result in penalties, which is consistent with the theoretical analysis.

Keywords: COVID-19; Stigma; Self-restraint behavior; Non-legally binding policy; Regional mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D91 I12 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-08-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/102182/1/MPRA_paper_102182.pdf original version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/102196/1/MPRA_paper_102196.pdf revised version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/102288/1/MPRA_paper_102288.pdf revised version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/102766/1/MPRA_paper_102766.pdf revised version (application/pdf)

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