Smart access and smart protection for welfare gain in Europe during COVID‐19: An empirical investigation using real‐time data

Humaira Kamal Pasha

Bulletin of Economic Research, 2024, vol. 76, issue 1, 41-66

Abstract: The COVID‐19 (Coronoavirus Disease 2019) pandemic has had many disastrous effects on welfare globally, particularly in European countries. In recent research, a new debate has arisen as a result of the shift of day‐to‐day activities to virtual platforms, which has augmented concerns related to smart (data) access and smart (data) protection. This study examines the economic, social, and psychological indicators of welfare gain within the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic and examines their impact on smart access and smart protection using the data of Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and real‐time Google Trends from June to August 2020. The findings indicate a negative relationship between smart access and economic crisis caused by COVID‐19, while households with sufficient resources support smart protection. Psychological effects including nervousness and anxiety are highly related to smart access. Likewise, being helpful in a time of uncertainty, societal contact, and social measures (hygiene and face mask) significantly and positively impact smart protection. The findings suggest that countries should combine their welfare agencies with health and economic institutes, and initiate projects related to cybersecurity.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/boer.12414

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:buecrs:v:76:y:2024:i:1:p:41-66

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0307-3378

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Bulletin of Economic Research from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().