Is democracy affecting the economic policy responses to COVID-19? A cross-country analysis

Costa-Filho, João and Neto, António (2020): Is democracy affecting the economic policy responses to COVID-19? A cross-country analysis.

Abstract

How does democracy relate to the initial economic policy responses to Covid-19? Using a cross-country analysis, we find that countries with a higher degree of democracy have stronger economic policy responses than their peers. However, when we separate monetary and financial policies from fiscal policy, democracy is not associated with the latter when we control for the income level of a country. Finally, for countries with lower levels of labor participation, high levels of income inequality are associated with weaker policy responses.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Covid-19, Democracy, Economic Policy
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E0 - General > E02 - Institutions and the Macroeconomy; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E5 - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit > E52 - Monetary Policy; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook > E60 - General; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook > E62 - Fiscal Policy

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