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

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between good governance and pandemic control using month-wise COVID-19 pandemic data within a time window from April to September 2020. The study argues that countries with better governance are more capable of adopting and implementing appropriate policies and that such governments are considered more trustworthy by their people. Combined, these factors enable such countries to better control a pandemic like COVID-19. Using several measures of good governance and two measures of pandemic spread, namely 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 the existence of a significant inverse relationship between all measures of good governance, and the COVID-19 positive and growth rates. The significant inverse relationship largely persists even after controlling for continent-fixed effects and a host of geographic, demographic, and socio-economic factors. This indicates the presence of a strong systemic linkage between quality of governance and pandemic control. The findings empirically strengthen the argument of eminent medical historians concerning the importance of effective governmental intervention for epidemic control. The study reveals that the quality of governance is a key factor in a country’s success in pandemic management and encourages further investigation.