Effects of Social Mobility and Stringency Measures on the COVID-19 Outcomes: Evidence From the United States

Jianmin Sun; Keh Kwek; Min Li; Hongzhou Shen

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.779501

Effects of Social Mobility and Stringency Measures on the COVID-19 Outcomes: Evidence From the United States

Front Public Health. 2021 Nov 4:9:779501. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.779501. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jianmin Sun¹, Keh Kwek², Min Li³, Hongzhou Shen¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Management, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China.
² School of Management, Qingdao City University, Qingdao, China.
³ School of Economics, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin, China.

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of stringency measures (provided by the Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker) and total time spent away from home (provided by the Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports) on the COVID-19 outcomes (measured by total COVID-19 cases and total deaths related to the COVID-19) in the United States. The paper focuses on the daily data from March 11, 2020 to August 13, 2021. The ordinary least squares and the machine learning estimators show that stringency measures are negatively related to the COVID-19 outcomes. A higher time spent away from home is positively associated with the COVID-19 outcomes. The paper also discusses the potential economic implications for the United States.

Keywords: COVID-19 outcomes; machine learning estimator; ordinary least squares; social mobility; stringency measures; the United States economy.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Government
Humans
SARS-CoV-2
Social Mobility
United States