The Political Economy of Early COVID-19 Interventions in US States

Martin Gonzalez-Eiras and Dirk Niepelt

No 16906, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We investigate how politico-economic factors shaped government responses to the spread of COVID-19. Our simple framework uses epidemiological, economic and politico-economic arguments. Confronting the theory with US state level data we find strong evidence for partisanship even when we control for fundamentals including the electorate's political views. Moreover, we detect an important role for the proximity of elections which we interpret as indicative of career concerns. Finally, we find suggestive evidence for complementarities between voluntary activity reductions and government imposed restrictions.

Keywords: Covid-19; Lockdown; Politics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-01
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Journal Article: The political economy of early COVID-19 interventions in US states (2022)
Working Paper: The Political Economy of Early Covid-19 Interventions in US States (2022)
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