1. How social capital helps communities weather the COVID-19 pandemic
- Author
-
Christos Makridis, Cary Wu, and Sloan School of Management
- Subjects
Viral Diseases ,Epidemiology ,Distribution (economics) ,Social Sciences ,Social Distancing ,Cultural Anthropology ,0302 clinical medicine ,Medical Conditions ,Sociology ,Pandemic ,Medicine and Health Sciences ,Public and Occupational Health ,030212 general & internal medicine ,050207 economics ,Multidisciplinary ,Social distance ,05 social sciences ,Religion ,Geography ,Infectious Diseases ,Social Networks ,Medicine ,Behavioral and Social Aspects of Health ,Network Analysis ,Social capital ,Research Article ,2019-20 coronavirus outbreak ,Computer and Information Sciences ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,Infectious Disease Control ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,Science ,Trust ,03 medical and health sciences ,Age Distribution ,Population Metrics ,0502 economics and business ,Humans ,Social Factors ,Pandemics ,Population Density ,Local Government ,Population Biology ,business.industry ,Community Participation ,COVID-19 ,Biology and Life Sciences ,Correction ,Covid 19 ,United States ,Local government ,Anthropology ,Communicable Disease Control ,Demographic economics ,business - Abstract
Why have the effects of COVID-19 been so unevenly geographically distributed in the United States? This paper investigates the role of social capital as a mediating factor for the spread of the virus. Because social capital is associated with greater trust and relationships within a community, it could endow individuals with a greater concern for others, thereby leading to more hygienic practices and social distancing. Using data for over 2,700 US counties, we investigate how social capital explains the level and growth rate of infections. We find that moving a county from the 25th to the 75th percentile of the distribution of social capital would lead to a 18% and 5.7% decline in the cumulative number of infections and deaths, as well as suggestive evidence of a lower spread of the virus. Our results are robust to many demographic characteristics, controls, and alternative measures of social capital.
- Published
- 2021