Abstract
To arrest the spread of COVID-19 infection, strict adherence to frequent hand washing and respiratory hygiene protocols have been recommended. While these measures involve private effort, they provide health gains along with collective community benefits and hence are likely to be driven by pro-social motives like altruism and reciprocity. Using data from 934 respondents collected from April till May 2020 across India, we assess if changes in perceived community compliance can predict changes in individual compliance behaviour. We observe statistically significant and positive relationship between the two, even after accounting for observable and omitted variable bias allowing us to view the results from a plausible causal lens. Further, we find subsequent lockdowns having a detrimental effect on individual compliance though the gains from higher perceived community compliance seem to offset this loss. We also find positive perceptions about community can be particularly effective for people with pre-existing co-morbidities. Our findings underscore the need for multi-level behavioural interventions involving local actors and community institutions to sustain private compliance during the pandemic. We suggest these interventions need to be specially targeted for individuals with chronic ailments and emphasize on community behavioural practices in public messaging.JEL Codes: I12, I18, I19, I31
Highlights
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread globally claiming close to two million lives across the world
We have controlled for perception about community beliefs about the compliance protocols, which would control for any systematic bias that the respondent may have about the community
The findings indicate that the community compliance scores, in all the specification are statistically significant at 1 per cent level
Summary
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread globally claiming close to two million lives across the world. In the initial phase when vaccine research was at the nascent stage, Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPI) like social distancing and wearing mask were recommended as protective measures to reduce infection spread. Though COVID-19 vaccines are being administered, infection spread continues to remain a potent threat especially as the virus is mutating into newer strain with higher infectivity.. Over time as deterrence measures like lockdown are loosened, increasing mobility is observed along with frequent non-adherence of the compliance protocols. In the backdrop of increasing human interactions and limited evidence on vaccine effectiveness as opposed to efficacy stricter adherence to social distancing measures, if not less, continues to impress itself as a crucial pandemic management strategy. As individuals with pre-existing disease conditions are found to be more susceptible to COVID infection, promoting NPI on a long-term basis remains an important health policy agenda for restricting virus incidence. Our work allows us to study the factors that sustain the compliance behaviour over time as well as encourage the co-morbid individuals to follow them
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