Assessing the effectiveness of international government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Héctor López-Mendoza, María A. González-Álvarez and Antonio Montañés

Economics & Human Biology, 2024, vol. 52, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical measures adopted by governments to control the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a Panel VAR model for the OECD countries, we test for Granger causality between the 7-day cumulative incidence, mortality rate, and government response indexes. Granger-type statistics reveal evidence that the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the measures taken by governments. However, limited or nonexistent evidence supports the reverse situation. This suggests that government measures were not highly effective in controlling the pandemic. While not implying total ineffectiveness, our results indicate a considerable lack of efficacy, emphasizing a lesson for governments to learn from and correct in preparation for similar events in the future.

Keywords: Government response index; Stringency indexes; Granger causality; Incidence, SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Working Paper: Assessing the effectiveness of international government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:52:y:2024:i:c:s1570677x24000054

DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2024.101353

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