Social connections with COVID-19-affected areas increase compliance with mobility restrictions
| Item Type | Journal paper |
| Abstract | We study the role of social connections in U.S. households’ compliance with mobility restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, using aggregated and anonymized Facebook data on social connections and mobile phone data for measuring social distancing at the county level. Relative to average, a one-standard-deviation increase in social connections with China and Italy - the first countries with major outbreaks of the virus - is associated with a nearly 50% increase in the estimated effect of mobility restrictions. Our results are not driven by traveler risk, as areas at higher risk from COVID-19 generally comply with restrictions more and are less affected by social connections. Social connections with counties with a less educated population, higher Trump vote share, and higher fraction of climate change deniers are associated with decreased effects of mobility restrictions. Our findings are consistent with social networks contributing to people’s information acquisition about the pandemic. |
| Authors | Charoenwong, Ben; Kwan, Alan & Pursiainen, Vesa |
| Journal or Publication Title | Science Advances |
| Language | English |
| Subjects | social sciences health sciences |
| HSG Classification | contribution to scientific community |
| Refereed | Yes |
| Date | 3 November 2020 |
| Official URL | https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020... |
| Depositing User | Prof. PhD Vesa Pursiainen |
| Date Deposited | 05 Nov 2020 00:12 |
| Last Modified | 05 Nov 2020 00:12 |
| URI: | https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/publications/261364 |
DownloadFull text not available from this repository.CitationCharoenwong, Ben; Kwan, Alan & Pursiainen, Vesa (2020) Social connections with COVID-19-affected areas increase compliance with mobility restrictions. Science Advances, Statisticshttps://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/id/eprint/261364
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