Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/279294 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 10544
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This paper examines the evolution of public policies before the scheduled political elections based on the government responses to the Covid pandemic. The results of an event study in a sample of countries that experienced political elections during the first year of the pandemic suggest that "lockdown style" policies were more stringent the further away countries were from election dates. The gradual relaxation of "lockdown style" restrictions ahead of the elections was driven by policies in low income, less democratic countries, and countries with relatively low social trust. Covid-related "economic support" policies were not significantly affected by the scheduled political elections. Placebo tests based on a random sample of countries that did not experience political elections in the first year of the pandemic confirm the validity of the results.
Subjects: 
political cycles
event study
Covid pandemic
JEL: 
D72
C23
O57
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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