Heterogeneity in the Support for Mandatory Masks Unveiled

Muhammad Maaz, Anastasios Papanastasiou, Bradley Ruffle and Angela L. Zheng
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Muhammad Maaz: Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
Anastasios Papanastasiou: Department of Economics, McMaster University, Canada
Angela L. Zheng: Department of Economics, McMaster University, Canada

Working Paper series from Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis

Abstract: Despite well-documented benefits of wearing a mask to reduce COVID-19 transmission, widespread opposition to mandating mask-wearing persists. Both our game-theoretic model and our unique survey dataset point to heterogeneity in the perceived benefits and perceived costs of mask-wearing. Young, healthy, Canadian-born adult males who are politically conservative or without a college education are all more likely to oppose mandatory mask laws, as are individuals who do not take climate change seriously and who express less trust in doctors and in elected officials. Political conservatives disproportionately cite not wanting to live in fear and infringements on personal freedoms as reasons for not wearing masks. Our findings cannot be explained by individuals who substitute physical distancing for mask-wearing. We show that these two precautionary measures are complements.

Keywords: COVID-19; mandatory protective masks; heterogeneity in beliefs; ideology; political partisanship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I18 J38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://rcea.org/RePEc/pdf/wp21-01.pdf

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Working Paper: Heterogeneity in the Support for Mandatory Masks Unveiled (2021)
Working Paper: Heterogeneity in the Support for Mandatory Masks Unveiled (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rim:rimwps:21-01

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