A cross-institutional exploratory investigation of COVID-19 spread: formal vs. informal institutions

Bitar, Mohammad; Peillex, Jonathan; El Ouadghiri, Imane

Abstract

We investigate the effect of culture on COVID-19 spread using a sample of 67 countries over the first 10 months of the pandemic. We find that individualistic countries have higher number of COVID-19 cases, an effect that is independent from formal institutions. A two-ways interaction effects, however, between formal institutions and individualism, shows that effective political institutions, sound governance, and better economic conditions reduce the effect on individualism on CVODI-19 spread. Our findings provide evidence that are useful not only for explaining differences in COVID-19 spread between countries but can also enable policymakers and organizations to understand what generally determines individuals’ compliance with formal rules and regulations.

Citation

Bitar, M., Peillex, J., & El Ouadghiri, I. (2022). A cross-institutional exploratory investigation of COVID-19 spread: formal vs. informal institutions. Applied Economics, https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2022.2125495

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 23, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 13, 2022
• Publication Date: Oct 13, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 14, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 14, 2024
• Journal: Applied Economics
• Print ISSN: 0003-6846
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-4283
• Publisher: Informa UK Limited
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2022.2125495
• Keywords: Economics and Econometrics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/12328762
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036846.2022.2125495?journalCode=raec20
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Applied Economics on 13/10/2022, available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036846.2022.2125495?journalCode=raec20