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

Neha Deopa () and Piergiuseppe Fortunato ()
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Piergiuseppe Fortunato: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Journal of Population Economics, 2021, vol. 34, issue 4, No 8, 1355-1383

Abstract: Abstract Social distancing measures help contain the spread of COVID-19, but 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 French-speaking cantons. However, we find no such significant differences for bilingual cantons. Contrary to the evidence in the literature, we find that within the Swiss context, high trusting areas exhibited a smaller decline in mobility. Additionally, cantons supporting a limited role of the state in matters of welfare also experienced a smaller reduction in mobility.

Keywords: COVID-19; Culture; Social distancing; Trust; Redistribution; Mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D91 H12 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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DOI: 10.1007/s00148-021-00865-y

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