COVID-19 Regulations, Political Institutions, and the Environment

Per G. Fredriksson; Aatishya Mohanty

doi:10.1007/s10640-021-00628-z

COVID-19 Regulations, Political Institutions, and the Environment

Per G. Fredriksson, Aatishya Mohanty

Economics

University of Louisville

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with short-term air quality improvements in many countries around the world. We study whether the degree of democracy and political institutions played a role. We provide novel empirical evidence from 119 countries. A given stringency of COVID-19 containment and closure policies had a stronger effect on air quality in more democratic countries, and in countries with majoritarian rather than proportional electoral rules. Our estimates suggest that the improvement in air quality was around 57% greater in majoritarian systems than in proportional systems. Confidence in government, trust in politicians, and social capital also affected outcomes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	323-353
Number of pages	31
Journal	Environmental and Resource Economics
Volume	81
Early online date	25 Nov 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-021-00628-z
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
The authors thank the three insightful referees, James Ang, Cooper Day, Jose Fernandez and Cheng Keat Tang for useful comments and suggestions, the co-editor Grischa Perino for helpful guidance and suggestions, and Catherine Lewis for research assistance. The usual disclaimers apply

Keywords

COVID-19
Infectious disease
Democracy
Electoral system
Institutions
Confidence in government
Trust
Social capital
Rally effect

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/s10640-021-00628-zLicence: Unspecified

Cite this

@article{936e3856182943719a6f8bef473fd4d5,

title = "COVID-19 Regulations, Political Institutions, and the Environment",

abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with short-term air quality improvements in many countries around the world. We study whether the degree of democracy and political institutions played a role. We provide novel empirical evidence from 119 countries. A given stringency of COVID-19 containment and closure policies had a stronger effect on air quality in more democratic countries, and in countries with majoritarian rather than proportional electoral rules. Our estimates suggest that the improvement in air quality was around 57% greater in majoritarian systems than in proportional systems. Confidence in government, trust in politicians, and social capital also affected outcomes.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Infectious disease, Democracy, Electoral system, Institutions, Confidence in government, Trust, Social capital, Rally effect",

author = "Fredriksson, {Per G.} and Aatishya Mohanty",

note = "Acknowledgements The authors thank the three insightful referees, James Ang, Cooper Day, Jose Fernandez and Cheng Keat Tang for useful comments and suggestions, the co-editor Grischa Perino for helpful guidance and suggestions, and Catherine Lewis for research assistance. The usual disclaimers apply",

year = "2022",

month = feb,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/s10640-021-00628-z",

language = "English",

volume = "81",

pages = "323--353",

journal = "Environmental and Resource Economics",

issn = "0924-6460",

publisher = "Springer Netherlands",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - COVID-19 Regulations, Political Institutions, and the Environment

AU - Fredriksson, Per G.

AU - Mohanty, Aatishya

N1 - Acknowledgements The authors thank the three insightful referees, James Ang, Cooper Day, Jose Fernandez and Cheng Keat Tang for useful comments and suggestions, the co-editor Grischa Perino for helpful guidance and suggestions, and Catherine Lewis for research assistance. The usual disclaimers apply

PY - 2022/2/1

Y1 - 2022/2/1

N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with short-term air quality improvements in many countries around the world. We study whether the degree of democracy and political institutions played a role. We provide novel empirical evidence from 119 countries. A given stringency of COVID-19 containment and closure policies had a stronger effect on air quality in more democratic countries, and in countries with majoritarian rather than proportional electoral rules. Our estimates suggest that the improvement in air quality was around 57% greater in majoritarian systems than in proportional systems. Confidence in government, trust in politicians, and social capital also affected outcomes.

AB - The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with short-term air quality improvements in many countries around the world. We study whether the degree of democracy and political institutions played a role. We provide novel empirical evidence from 119 countries. A given stringency of COVID-19 containment and closure policies had a stronger effect on air quality in more democratic countries, and in countries with majoritarian rather than proportional electoral rules. Our estimates suggest that the improvement in air quality was around 57% greater in majoritarian systems than in proportional systems. Confidence in government, trust in politicians, and social capital also affected outcomes.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Infectious disease

KW - Democracy

KW - Electoral system

KW - Institutions

KW - Confidence in government

KW - Trust

KW - Social capital

KW - Rally effect

UR - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10640-021-00628-z

U2 - 10.1007/s10640-021-00628-z

DO - 10.1007/s10640-021-00628-z

M3 - Article

SN - 0924-6460

VL - 81

SP - 323

EP - 353

JO - Environmental and Resource Economics

JF - Environmental and Resource Economics

ER -

COVID-19 Regulations, Political Institutions, and the Environment

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this