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Did COVID-19 Lockdowns Crowd Out Interest in Voluntary Health Measures? Evidence from Google Trends

Nunn, James Alexander LU (2021) NEKP01 20211
Department of Economics
Abstract
Government and individual responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have had significant health and economic consequences. Governments imposed measures, including lockdowns, designed to suppress transmission and alleviate the burden on health systems, while private individuals exercised voluntary social distancing, compliance with government-imposed measures and exhibited increased health concerns. Using Google Trends data, I take advantage of variation in the timing of lockdowns as well as the seasonality and predictability of search interest in health-related topics, to investigate the effect of government- imposed lockdowns on voluntary motivation. I show that lockdowns are associated with decreased private interest... (More)
Government and individual responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have had significant health and economic consequences. Governments imposed measures, including lockdowns, designed to suppress transmission and alleviate the burden on health systems, while private individuals exercised voluntary social distancing, compliance with government-imposed measures and exhibited increased health concerns. Using Google Trends data, I take advantage of variation in the timing of lockdowns as well as the seasonality and predictability of search interest in health-related topics, to investigate the effect of government- imposed lockdowns on voluntary motivation. I show that lockdowns are associated with decreased private interest in health, specifically health interventions perceived to protect against COVID-19 infection, providing support for a crowding out effect of lockdowns. That the efficacy of government-imposed measures is compromised by reduced voluntary motivation has important implications for policy design in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, future pandemics and other crises. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Nunn, James Alexander LU
supervisor
organization
course
NEKP01 20211
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
COVID-19, coronavirus, lockdowns, public policy, Google Trends, crowding out effect, health
language
English
id
9055866
date added to LUP
2021-07-05 13:23:05
date last changed
2021-07-05 13:23:05
@misc{9055866,
  abstract     = {{Government and individual responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have had significant health and economic consequences. Governments imposed measures, including lockdowns, designed to suppress transmission and alleviate the burden on health systems, while private individuals exercised voluntary social distancing, compliance with government-imposed measures and exhibited increased health concerns. Using Google Trends data, I take advantage of variation in the timing of lockdowns as well as the seasonality and predictability of search interest in health-related topics, to investigate the effect of government- imposed lockdowns on voluntary motivation. I show that lockdowns are associated with decreased private interest in health, specifically health interventions perceived to protect against COVID-19 infection, providing support for a crowding out effect of lockdowns. That the efficacy of government-imposed measures is compromised by reduced voluntary motivation has important implications for policy design in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, future pandemics and other crises.}},
  author       = {{Nunn, James Alexander}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Did COVID-19 Lockdowns Crowd Out Interest in Voluntary Health Measures? Evidence from Google Trends}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}