Abstract
The tradeoff between short-term economic and public health has been very salient in debates surrounding U.S. government responses to COVID-19. But highly salient choices by very visible executive branch leaders, like state COVID-19 public health actions, have implications beyond current economic performance. We argue that by shaping perceptions of state governments, or state “reputations”, these responses may affect how individuals evaluate economic opportunities in different states. To examine this possibility, we conducted a conjoint experiment presenting subjects with different pairs of job opportunities varying many attributes of the location, job and the state governor’s response to COVID-19. We find that individuals evaluate job opportunities more favorably when a state governor has more aggressively mandated social distancing measures. These effects are largest for individuals concerned about COVID-19 and Democrats, but even Republicans prefer jobs in states where the governor took some meaningful action compared to making a purely symbolic statement. Our findings indicate that governors and their advisors should consider how their COVID-19 responses shape state reputations, which ultimately have consequences for economic performance beyond the immediate crisis.
Highlights
The tradeoff between short-term economic and public health has been very salient in debates surrounding U.S government responses to COVID-19
The debate has focused mostly on the short-term economic implications of public health actions, but we argue that there are potentially longer-term economic repercussions: pandemic responses may affect state reputations, Vwhich in turn affect how individuals evaluate economic opportunities in different states
Though salary is by far the most important consideration for potential job seekers, job seekers view career opportunities more favorably if they are located in a state where the governor took more aggressive action mandating social distancing, meaning that there is at least a short-term reputational effect to states for their COVID-19 responses
Summary
The tradeoff between short-term economic and public health has been very salient in debates surrounding U.S government responses to COVID-19. The debate has focused mostly on the short-term economic implications of public health actions, but we argue that there are potentially longer-term economic repercussions: pandemic responses may affect state reputations, Vwhich in turn affect how individuals evaluate economic opportunities in different states. We ask: do individuals evaluate job opportunities more (less) favorably if they are located in a state where the governor (did not) more aggressively mandated social distancing?
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
