The political cost of sanctions: evidence from COVID-19

FAZIO, Andrea, Tommaso REGGIANI and Fabio SABATINI. The political cost of sanctions: evidence from COVID-19. HEALTH POLICY. Ireland: ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD, 2022, vol. 126, No 9, p. 872-878. ISSN 0168-8510. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.06.008.

Basic information

• Original name: The political cost of sanctions: evidence from COVID-19
• Authors: FAZIO, Andrea (380 Italy), Tommaso REGGIANI (380 Italy, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Fabio SABATINI.
• Edition: HEALTH POLICY, Ireland, ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD, 2022, 0168-8510.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50202 Applied Economics, Econometrics
• Country of publisher: Ireland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Impact factor: Impact factor: 3.300
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14560/22:00126118
• Organization unit: Faculty of Economics and Administration
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.06.008
• UT WoS: 000903710700006
• Keywords in English: COVID-19; Lockdown; Law enforcement; Altruistic punishment; Survey data
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

We use survey data to study how trust in government and consensus for the pandemic policy response vary with the propensity for altruistic punishment in Italy, the early epicenter of the pandemic. Approval for the government’s management of the crisis decreases with the size of the penalties that individuals would like to see enforced for lockdown violations. People supporting stronger punishment are more likely to consider the government’s reaction to the pandemic as insufficient. However, after the establishment of tougher sanctions for risky behaviors, we observe a sudden flip in support for the government. Higher amounts of the desired fines become associated with a higher probability of considering the government’s policy response as too extreme, lower trust in government, and lower confidence in the truthfulness of the officially provided information. These results suggest that lockdowns entail a political cost that helps explain why democracies may adopt epidemiologically suboptimal policies.

Links

• MUNI/G/0985/2017, interní kód MU: Name: Economic Decision-Making: Hormonal Determinants and Ritualized Behavior

Investor: Masaryk University, INTERDISCIPLINARY - Interdisciplinary research projects