Do Crises Increase Parochial Behavior? Evidence from Donations During Covid

Esteban Jaimovich, Sarah Smith and Derrick Xu

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Abstract: Do people behave more favorably towards their in-group during a crisis? Defining in/out-groups by geography, we study donations to local versus non-local charities during the Covid pandemic. The evidence points to increased parochialism: We document a relative increase in donations to local charities and show that donors in high-Covid areas increased their local giving and became less responsive to international disasters. Increased local giving was most pronounced during the first year of the pandemic. Our interpretation is that greater parochialism in donations was due to heightened concern about the immediate impact of Covid at a time when localities were salient.

Date: 2026-07
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