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

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

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
Working paper (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research) and Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Author(s):
Allcott, Hunt, author
Contributor(s):
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, issuing body.
Publication:
Stanford, CA : Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), April 2020
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
COVID-19
Physical Distancing
Politics
Public Health
United States
Abstract:
We study partisan differences in Americans' response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Political leaders and media outlets on the right and left have sent divergent messages about the severity of the crisis, which could impact the extent to which Republicans and Democrats engage in social distancing and other efforts to reduce disease transmission. We develop a simple model of a pandemic response with heterogeneous agents that clarifies the causes and consequences of heterogeneous responses. We use location data from a large sample of smartphones to show that areas with more Republicans engage in less social distancing, controlling for other factors including state policies, population density, and local COVID cases and deaths. We then present new survey evidence of significant gaps between Republicans and Democrats in beliefs about personal risk and the future path of the pandemic.-- Author
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (50 pages))
Illustrations:
Illustrations and Maps
NLM Unique ID:
101776177 (See catalog record)
OCLC no.:
1285039556
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101776177