Social distancing has been one of the core public policy measures used to mitigate the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such widespread adoption of social distancing measures is wholly unprecedented, and governments have implemented a variety of policies to encourage compliance. These typically rely on financial penalties (fines) and/or informational messages (nudges). There is, however, a lack of evidence on the impact of these policies . We examine the effectiveness of fines and nudges in promoting social distancing in a web-based interactive experiment . The study involves a nearrepresentative sample of 400 participants from the US population , and it was conducted in May 2020 at the height of the pandemic . Fines significantly promote distancing, but nudges only have a marginal impact. Political ideology also has a causal impact -- progressives are more likely to practice distancing, and are marginally more responsive to fines. Further, individuals do more social distancing when they know they may be a superspreader. Our results highlight the crucial role of web-based interactive experiments in informing governments on the causal impact of policies at a time when lab and/or field-based experimental research is not feasible.
Governments have used social distancing to stem the spread of COVID-19 , but lack evidence on the most effective policy to ensure compliance . We examine the effectiveness of fines and informational messages (nudges) in promoting social distancing in a web-based interactive experiment conducted during the pandemic on a near-representative sample of the US population . Fines significantly promote distancing, but nudges only have a marginal impact. Political ideology also has a causal impact - progressives are more likely to practice distancing, and are marginally more responsive to fines. Further, individuals do more social distancing when they know they may be a superspreader. Our results highlight the role of web-based interactive experiments in informing governments on the causal impact of policies at a time when lab and/or field-based experimental research is not feasible.
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Social distancing has been one of the core public policy measures used to mitigate the economic and health impacts of the
Governments have used social distancing to stem the spread of
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pandemic. Such widespread adoption of social distancing measures is wholly unprecedented, and governments have implemented a variety of policies to encourage compliance. These typically rely on financial penalties (fines) and/or informational messages (nudges). There is, however, a lack of
, but lack
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impact of these policies
most effective policy to ensure compliance
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nudges
informational messages (nudges)
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. The study involves a nearrepresentative sample of 400 participants from
conducted during the pandemic on a near-representative sample of
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, and it was conducted in May 2020 at the height of the pandemic
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crucial