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Cipullo D, Le Moglie M
Eur J Polit Econ 72 (-) 102118 [2022-03-00; online 2021-09-16]
The possibility to run fair electoral campaigns is necessary for the legitimization of modern democracies through elections. Yet, during a pandemic, the risk that electoral campaigns would enhance the spread of the disease is substantive. In this paper, we estimate the causal impact of electoral campaigns on the spread of COVID-19. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in the schedule of local elections across Italy, we show that the electoral campaign preceding this latter led to a significant worsening of the epidemiological situation related to the disease. Our results strongly highlight the importance of undertaking stringent measures along the entire electoral process to minimize its epidemiological consequences.
Category: Social Science & Humanities
PubMed 35317430
DOI 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2021.102118
Crossref 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2021.102118
pii: S0176-2680(21)00100-2
pmc: PMC8931692