The effect of culture in containing a pandemic: the case of COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic affected every country. Countries where people wore a mask, maintained social distance, and frequently washed their hands were more likely to contain the pandemic. In this article, we investigate how Hofstede’s cultural dimensions influenced the success that countries had containing this pandemic. We find that countries with higher uncertainty avoidance and indulgence had significantly higher rates of COVID-19 cases. However, there is no evidence that masculinity-femininity, power distance, long-term orientation, or individualism significantly affected people’s response to the pandemic.

Keywords:

• Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
• crisis management
• culture
• pandemic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.