Awareness of pandemics and the impact of COVID-19

Econ Lett. 2021 Jul:204:109892. doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109892. Epub 2021 May 12.

Abstract

Awareness about the occurrence of viral infectious (or other) tail risks can influence their socioeconomic inter-temporal impacts. In this regard, a branch of the literature finds that personal experiences with significant shocks can have long-lasting effects on risk-taking attitudes and the perceived probability about the occurrence of extreme, negative shocks. In this paper, we proxy the level of societal experience (awareness) in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak by past exposure of a country to epidemics, and other catastrophic events. We show that in a large cross-section of more than 150 countries, more aware societies suffered a less intense impact of the COVID-19 disease, in terms of loss of lives and, to some extent, economic damage.

Keywords: Global health crises; Socioeconomic impact of pandemics.