Legal origins and government COVID-19 control measures

ABSTRACT

A speedy response made a significant difference to the number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19. Did legal philosophies matter for policy responses? We find that when 100 cases had been diagnosed (and 7–14 days thereafter), common law countries had implemented weaker measures than civil law countries. However, no significant difference is found for COVID-19 related deaths. Lower vulnerability is also associated with weaker policies.

KEYWORDS:

• Coronavirus
• pandemic
• legal system
• legal origin
• lockdown policy

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• I18
• K15

Acknowledgments

We thank a helpful referee and James Ang for comments. The usual disclaimers apply.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Per Fredriksson, upon request.

Supplementay material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.