Civic Capital and Social Distancing during the Covid-19 Pandemic

John Barrios, Efraim Benmelech, Yael V. Hochberg, Paola Sapienza and Luigi Zingales

No 27320, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The success of non-pharmaceutical interventions to contain pandemics often depends greatly upon voluntary compliance with government guidelines. What explains variation in voluntary compliance? Using mobile phone and survey data, we show that during the early phases of COVID-19, voluntary social distancing was higher when individuals exhibit a higher sense of civic duty. This is true for U.S. individuals, U.S. counties, and European regions. We also show that after U.S. states began re-opening, social distancing remained more prevalent in high civic capital counties. Our evidence points to the importance of civic capital in designing public policy responses to pandemics.

JEL-codes: K42 P16 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ore and nep-soc
Note: CF POL
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (52)

Published as John M. Barrios & Efraim Benmelech & Yael V. Hochberg & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2021. "Civic capital and social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic☆," Journal of Public Economics, vol 193.

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Related works:
Working Paper: Civic Capital and Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020)
Working Paper: Civic Capital and Social Distancing during the Covid-19 Pandemic (2020)
Working Paper: Civic Capital and Social Distancing during the Covid-19 Pandemic (2020)
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