It matters to be in good hands: the relationship between good governance and pandemic spread inferred from cross-country COVID-19 data

This study examines the relationship between good governance and pandemic control using month-wise COVID-19 data from April to September 2020. It argues that countries with better governance are more capable of adopting and implementing appropriate policies and are considered more trustworthy by their populace; combined, these factors enable such countries to better control a pandemic like COVID-19. Using several measures of governance and two measures of pandemic spread—the COVID-19 positive rate and the COVID-19 growth rate—this paper tests its argument econometrically in a sample of 185 countries. The results show a significant inverse relationship between all measures of good governance and both the COVID-19 positive and growth rates. This relationship largely persists after controlling for continent-fixed effects and a host of geographic, demographic, and socio-economic factors, indicating a strong systemic linkage between quality of governance and pandemic control. The findings empirically strengthen arguments regarding the importance of effective governmental intervention for epidemic control, revealing that the quality of governance is a key factor in a country's success in pandemic management and encouraging further investigation.

Munirul H. Nabin, Mohammad Tarekul Hasan Chowdhury, Sukanto Bhattacharya