Electoral concerns reduce restrictive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Pulejo, Massimo; Querubin, Pablo
• 署名单位: New York University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104387
• 发表日期: 2021
• 关键词: covid-19; public policy; Public health; ELECTIONS; restrictions; Lockdown

摘要

The outbreak of COVID-19 has called for swift action by governments, often involving the adoption of restrictive measures such as lockdowns. In this context, leaders have faced a trade-off between imposing stringent measures to limit the contagion, and minimizing the short-run costs on their national economy, which could impact their electoral prospects. Leveraging on both the timing of elections and the constitutional term limits faced by leaders in presidential systems, we document how incumbents who can run for re-election implement less stringent restrictions when the election is closer in time. The effect is driven by measures more likely to have a negative economic impact. This shows how electoral concerns help explain the observed differences in the response to the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic across different countries. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.