Dataset Information

Social distancing as a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to show that social distancing is a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Study design

We apply economic theory to analyse a cross-sectional survey.

Methods

Economic theory is complemented with empirical evidence. An online survey of those aged 30-49 years in Japan (n = 2177) was conducted between April 28 and May 7. Respondents were selected by quota sampling with regard to age group, gender and prefecture of residence. Our main figure shows the proportion of people who increased/did not change/decreased social distancing, relative to the level of altruism and sensitivity to public shaming. The results of OLS and logit models are shown in Supplementary Materials.

Results

Social distancing is a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic for which the free-rider problem is particularly severe. Altruism and social norms are crucial factors in overcoming this problem. Using an original survey, we show that people with higher altruistic concerns and sensitivity to shaming are more likely to follow social distancing measures.

Conclusions

Altruism and social norms are important for reducing the economic cost of the pandemic.

SUBMITTER: Cato S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7425541 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Social distancing as a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cato S S Iida T T Ishida K K Ito A A McElwain K M KM Shoji M M

Public health 20200813

<h4>Objectives</h4>The purpose of this study is to show that social distancing is a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic.<h4>Study design</h4>We apply economic theory to analyse a cross-sectional survey.<h4>Methods</h4>Economic theory is complemented with empirical evidence. An online survey of those aged 30-49 years in Japan (n = 2177) was conducted between April 28 and May 7. Respondents were selected by quota sampling with regard to age group, gender and prefecture of residence. Our main f ...[more]

PMID: 33120232

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Dataset Information

Social distancing as a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives

Study design

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Social distancing as a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar Datasets

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