Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/240366 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
BOFIT Discussion Papers No. 15/2020
Publisher: 
Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition (BOFIT), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper documents a strong delayed response to COVID-19, which is caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus in countries that did not encounter the SARS disease in 2003. The SARS outbreak was caused by a similar virus, SARS-CoV-1. Individuals in countries that developed SARS infections in 2003 search more intensively for COVID-19-related information on Google during the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in late January 2020. Governments in countries that have not experienced SARS respond significantly slower in implementing containment measures to combat COVID-19 than countries that have experienced SARS. Furthermore, the timely responses of individuals and governments are more pronounced in countries that reported deaths caused by SARS, which left deeper imprints. Consequently, COVID-19 case numbers and mortalities have been substantially higher in countries that did not experience SARS deaths. Our findings suggest that the imprint of the early experience of similar viruses is a fundamental mechanism underlying timely responses to COVID-19.
Subjects: 
COVID-19
imprint
early experience
delayed response
JEL: 
D83
E70
H12
I10
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-952-323-335-5
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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