Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint
We provide evidence of delayed attention and inaction in response to COVID-19 in countries that did not experience SARS in 2003. Using cross-country data, we find that individuals in countries that had SARS infections in 2003 searched more intensively for COVID-19-related information on Google in la...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159571 |
| _version_ | 1826111204540547072 |
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| author | Ru, Hong Yang, Endong Zou, Kunru |
| author2 | Nanyang Business School |
| author_facet | Nanyang Business School Ru, Hong Yang, Endong Zou, Kunru |
| author_sort | Ru, Hong |
| collection | NTU |
| description | We provide evidence of delayed attention and inaction in response to COVID-19 in countries that did not experience SARS in 2003. Using cross-country data, we find that individuals in countries that had SARS infections in 2003 searched more intensively for COVID-19-related information on Google in late January 2020, the time of the first known outbreak in Wuhan, China. Early attention to the novel virus, as measured by Google searches, is associated with deeper stock market drops in countries with SARS experience. In contrast, people in countries without SARS experience started to pay more attention much later, in March. Moreover, governments in these countries responded significantly more slowly in implementing social distancing policies to combat domestic COVID-19 outbreaks than governments in countries with SARS experience. Moreover, such early responses of individuals and governments in countries with SARS experience are prevalent within continent, even in non-Asian countries. Furthermore, people in countries with SARS experience are more compliant with social distancing rules. These timely attention and proactive responses of individuals and governments are more pronounced in countries that reported deaths caused by SARS, which left deeper imprints. Our findings suggest that the imprint of similar viruses’ experience is a fundamental mechanism underlying timely responses to COVID-19. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:46:51Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/159571 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:46:51Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1595712023-05-19T07:31:15Z Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint Ru, Hong Yang, Endong Zou, Kunru Nanyang Business School Business::Management COVID-19 SARS Experience We provide evidence of delayed attention and inaction in response to COVID-19 in countries that did not experience SARS in 2003. Using cross-country data, we find that individuals in countries that had SARS infections in 2003 searched more intensively for COVID-19-related information on Google in late January 2020, the time of the first known outbreak in Wuhan, China. Early attention to the novel virus, as measured by Google searches, is associated with deeper stock market drops in countries with SARS experience. In contrast, people in countries without SARS experience started to pay more attention much later, in March. Moreover, governments in these countries responded significantly more slowly in implementing social distancing policies to combat domestic COVID-19 outbreaks than governments in countries with SARS experience. Moreover, such early responses of individuals and governments in countries with SARS experience are prevalent within continent, even in non-Asian countries. Furthermore, people in countries with SARS experience are more compliant with social distancing rules. These timely attention and proactive responses of individuals and governments are more pronounced in countries that reported deaths caused by SARS, which left deeper imprints. Our findings suggest that the imprint of similar viruses’ experience is a fundamental mechanism underlying timely responses to COVID-19. Ministry of Education (MOE) This work was supported by Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its Tier 1 RG60/17, University of Macau, Start-up Research Grant [SRG2019-00151-FBA]. 2022-06-28T00:47:12Z 2022-06-28T00:47:12Z 2021 Journal Article Ru, H., Yang, E. & Zou, K. (2021). Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint. Management Science, 67(9), 5606-5615. https://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4015 0025-1909 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159571 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4015 2-s2.0-85103602337 9 67 5606 5615 en RG60/17 Management Science © 2021 INFORMS. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Business::Management COVID-19 SARS Experience Ru, Hong Yang, Endong Zou, Kunru Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint |
| title | Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint |
| title_full | Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint |
| title_fullStr | Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint |
| title_full_unstemmed | Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint |
| title_short | Combating the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of the SARS imprint |
| title_sort | combating the covid 19 pandemic the role of the sars imprint |
| topic | Business::Management COVID-19 SARS Experience |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159571 |
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