Health Externalities and Policy: The Role of Social Preferences

Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Nora Lamersdorf () and Farzad Saidi ()
Additional contact information
Nora Lamersdorf: Goethe University Frankfurt, 60323 Frankfurt, Germany
Farzad Saidi: Centre for Economic Policy Research, London EC1V 0DX, United Kingdom; University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany

Management Science, 2022, vol. 68, issue 9, 6751-6761

Abstract: Social preferences facilitate the internalization of health externalities, for example, by reducing mobility during a pandemic. We test this hypothesis using mobility data from 258 cities worldwide alongside experimentally validated measures of social preferences. Controlling for time-varying heterogeneity that could arise at the level at which mitigation policies are implemented, we find that they matter less in regions that are more altruistic, patient, or exhibit less negative reciprocity. In those regions, mobility falls ahead of lockdowns, and remains low after the lifting thereof. Our results elucidate the importance, independent of the cultural context, of social preferences in fostering cooperative behavior.

Keywords: social preferences; pandemics; mobility; health externalities; mitigation policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4461 (application/pdf)

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Working Paper: Health Externalities and Policy: The Role of Social Preferences (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:9:p:6751-6761

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