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Political polarization and cooperation during a pandemic
Author(s) -
Cornelson Kirsten,
Miloucheva Boriana
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/hec.4560
Subject(s) - polarization (electrochemistry) , governor , politics , pandemic , covid-19 , political science , demographic economics , political economy , psychology , economics , medicine , law , virology , physics , infectious disease (medical specialty) , chemistry , disease , pathology , outbreak , thermodynamics
In this paper, we examine the relationship between political polarization and individuals' willingness to contribute to the public good by engaging in preventative behaviors against COVID‐19. Using a sample of individuals from close‐election states, we first show that individuals engage in fewer preventative behaviors when the governor of their state is from the opposite party. We also show that this effect is concentrated among moderate individuals who live in polarized states, and that it is strongest when the state has been relatively forceful in combating COVID‐19. We estimate that the opposite‐party effect increased COVID‐19 cases by around 1%.