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Economies in Quarantine; Understanding the Macroeconomic Impacts of Political Measures During COVID-19

Randler, Wilma LU and Engdahl, Elina (2025) NEKH04 20251
Department of Economics
Abstract (Swedish)
This thesis investigates the effect of policy measures on macroeconomic indicators in the EU member countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses data on four different policy measures as key independent variables, that together with control variables are regressed against three dependent variables, which are indicators of the economic situation of a country. The variables studied are real GDP per capita growth, unemployment rate and inflation (CPI). Multiple linear regression analysis for panel data is used as the econometric model, with robust standard errors. A fixed effects model is used for two of the dependent variables, and a random effects estimator for the third one. The results show that a significant effect is found on... (More)
This thesis investigates the effect of policy measures on macroeconomic indicators in the EU member countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses data on four different policy measures as key independent variables, that together with control variables are regressed against three dependent variables, which are indicators of the economic situation of a country. The variables studied are real GDP per capita growth, unemployment rate and inflation (CPI). Multiple linear regression analysis for panel data is used as the econometric model, with robust standard errors. A fixed effects model is used for two of the dependent variables, and a random effects estimator for the third one. The results show that a significant effect is found on real GDP per capita growth of the primary independent variables of governmental economic support and vaccination rates. Significant effects are also found of the lagged versions of these variables, implying that policy implementations have delayed effects as well. Regarding unemployment rates and CPI, none of the primary independent variables showed significant effects. Nonetheless, the thesis supports the hypothesis that policy implementation during crises can dampen the effects on the economy, but only for one variable studied. The results are important in understanding how government actions affect the economy during crises. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Randler, Wilma LU and Engdahl, Elina
supervisor
organization
course
NEKH04 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
COVID-19, European Union, government policies, GDP growth, unemployment, inflation, panel data
language
English
id
9194744
date added to LUP
2025-09-12 09:23:05
date last changed
2025-09-12 09:23:05
@misc{9194744,
  abstract     = {{This thesis investigates the effect of policy measures on macroeconomic indicators in the EU member countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses data on four different policy measures as key independent variables, that together with control variables are regressed against three dependent variables, which are indicators of the economic situation of a country. The variables studied are real GDP per capita growth, unemployment rate and inflation (CPI). Multiple linear regression analysis for panel data is used as the econometric model, with robust standard errors. A fixed effects model is used for two of the dependent variables, and a random effects estimator for the third one. The results show that a significant effect is found on real GDP per capita growth of the primary independent variables of governmental economic support and vaccination rates. Significant effects are also found of the lagged versions of these variables, implying that policy implementations have delayed effects as well. Regarding unemployment rates and CPI, none of the primary independent variables showed significant effects. Nonetheless, the thesis supports the hypothesis that policy implementation during crises can dampen the effects on the economy, but only for one variable studied. The results are important in understanding how government actions affect the economy during crises.}},
  author       = {{Randler, Wilma and Engdahl, Elina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Economies in Quarantine; Understanding the Macroeconomic Impacts of Political Measures During COVID-19}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}