COVID-19 anti-contagion policies and economic support measures in the USA

Theologos Dergiades, Costas Milas, Elias Mossialos and Theodore Panagiotidis

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Current literature assumes that non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) reduce COVID-19 infections uniformly, that is, irrespectively of their strength. The role of economic support measures (ESM) in controlling the virus is also overlooked. Using a panel threshold model of COVID-19 cases in the US states, we identify three distinct regimes of ‘low’, ‘medium’, and ‘high’ severity interventions; the latter being more effective towards reducing infections growth. ESM increase the efficacy of NPIs through a behavioural channel that lowers the workplace hours supplied by individuals. Nonetheless, when containment policies are not very stringent (‘low’ regime) or are too draconian (‘high’ regime), ESM are less effective towards suppressing the pandemic. Finally, we find that the largest impact towards reducing the growth of infections comes jointly from school closures, workplace closures, cancelation of public events, and restrictions on internal movement, followed by the stay-at-home requirements, and the closure of public transport.

JEL-codes: C33 C51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2023-07-21
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Oxford Economic Papers, 21, July, 2023, 75(3), pp. 613 - 630. ISSN: 0030-7653

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Journal Article: COVID-19 anti-contagion policies and economic support measures in the USA (2023)
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