Abstract

PETERSEN CORTES, Germán. Political institutions and pandemic management: Massive PCR testing. Rev.econ.inst. [online]. 2021, vol.23, n.44, pp.195-212.  Epub May 02, 2021. ISSN 0124-5996.  https://doi.org/10.18601/01245996.v23n44.09.

A strand of the political economy literature expects political institutions to matter in the management of catastrophes (famines, pandemics, etc.), with democratic regimes being held as more effective than their authoritarian peers. The COVID-19 pandemic offers an interesting setting to test this expectation, in particular with regards to the crucial massification of SARS-CoV-2 testing. Evidence from 85 countries reveals a curvilinear relationship between democracy and testing, with low and high levels of democracy associated with the massification of testing, and medium levels -anocracies- associated with low testing. The variance is also partially explained by GDP per capita and government effectiveness.

Keywords : pandemic; COVID-19; political institutions; democracy; authoritarianism; JEL: H120.

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