Heterogeneous Actions, Beliefs, Constraints and Risk Tolerance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Authors are listed alphabetically. We thank SafeGraph Inc. for data access, Max Resnick and Helen Wang for excellent research assistance and Lillian Chen for survey management. The University of Michigan IRB approved this study (HUM00148129, HUM00180582, and HUM00180640). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

Polarization and public health: Partisan differences in social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic

“…Barrios and Hochberg (2020) show differences between Republican and Democratic areas in the frequency of COVID-related queries on Google and in movement patterns as measured in GPS data from a different source than the one we use. Fan et al (2020) find differences in risk perceptions and social distancing in GPS and survey data across political parties and other demographics. Our results are broadly consistent with these other studies, but we believe that our paper contributes to the discussion through a unique combination of observational data analysis, survey work, and a theoretical model that helps understand the economic implications of our results.…”

Views on the need to implement restriction policies to be able to address COVID-19 in the United States

“…Compared to men, women are more likely to recognize COVID-10 as a threat to health( Galasso et al, 2020 ) and take precautions on mitigating the risk of COVID-19 infection, including limiting social gatherings and putting on personal protective equipment. ( Fan et al, 2020 ) While women have lower infection and mortality rates due to COVID-19, they are more likely to be affected by the restriction measures associated with the closure of businesses and schools. ( Alon et al, 2020 ) Compared to other age groups, voter turnout is usually higher among those 65 years of age and over,( Mirsa, 2019 ) who are more likely impacted by federal-level policies associated with retirement and Medicare benefits, and less affected by potential barriers to voting due to relocation that is more common among other age groups.…”

Does social trust slow down or speed up the transmission of COVID-19?

“…That is, females are more risk averse, concerned about health consequences, and in favor of activity-restraining public policy measures than males. These differences allow females to be more compliant with the social rules for health-promoting behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic such as washing one's hands, maintaining distance from others, and staying at home [30,31]. Social capital theory points out that in high-trust societies, compliance to rules tend to be strong, and any deviations tend to be sanctioned promptly [1,25].…”