Measuring vulnerability index for managing COVID-19 behaviour in Ghana

Mohammed Amidu, Agnes Akpene Akakpo and Teddy Ossei Kwakye

Cogent Business & Management, 2024, vol. 11, issue 1, 2391247

Abstract: This paper investigates the implications of human behaviour and government support for the quality of life of vulnerable populations during the Covid-19 pandemic. We sample 2,697 households and employ the COM-B model, theory of economic contagion, and information asymmetry to empirically respond to the following research questions: What is the level of vulnerability among informal settlements in Ghana? Did the support vulnerable populations receive during the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak in Ghana improve their state of being? What were the lifestyle changes during the pandemic? Our core finding is that the plight of the vulnerable population is ameliorated when government support brings about positive change in Covid-19 behaviour. Our analysis suggests that cash transfers, free utilities and credit schemes reduce income vulnerability. Moreover, government support for small businesses and tax exemption have the potential of reducing employment vulnerability. It is therefore recommended that policymakers should institutionalize emergency cash transfers, subsidize essential utilities, and establish accessible credit schemes to support vulnerable populations after the Covid-19 crisis.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/23311975.2024.2391247 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

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:taf:oabmxx:v:11:y:2024:i:1:p:2391247

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://cogentoa.tandfonline.com/journal/OABM20

DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2024.2391247

Access Statistics for this article

Cogent Business & Management is currently edited by Len Tiu Wright and Tahir Nisar

More articles in Cogent Business & Management from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().