Marco Mantovani (University of Milan – Bicocca) – Moral Preferences over Taboo Trade-offs in the Time of Coronavirus
Room : P02
“Moral Preferences over Taboo Trade-offs in the Time of Coronavirus”
Authors: Antonio Filippin, Marco Mantovani
Abstract: Covid-19 brought to the forefront of the political agenda the trade-off between
health and economic activities. Leveraging theoretical and empirical tools from
economics we estimate moral preferences over fatalities and jobs losses due to the
pandemic in Italy, the UK and the US. The exercise allows to characterize those
preferences not in a specific situation, but for any point in the space of possible
combinations of the two outcomes. This allows to estimate how people respond
to the severity of the economic and/or health toll. We find health weights
more than economic activity, and respondents’ stable traits (such as political orientation
or risk aversion) influence attitudes more than their personal experiences
with the consequences of the pandemic. Most importantly, policy responses look
misaligned with estimated preferences. Italy adopted more stringent containment
measures, while Italian respondents display a relatively weaker pro-health attitude.
We stress-test this result and find it is robust: it does not stem either from a
reaction to the policies adopted or from differences in fundamentals, such as labor
market conditions and health costs.
health and economic activities. Leveraging theoretical and empirical tools from
economics we estimate moral preferences over fatalities and jobs losses due to the
pandemic in Italy, the UK and the US. The exercise allows to characterize those
preferences not in a specific situation, but for any point in the space of possible
combinations of the two outcomes. This allows to estimate how people respond
to the severity of the economic and/or health toll. We find health weights
more than economic activity, and respondents’ stable traits (such as political orientation
or risk aversion) influence attitudes more than their personal experiences
with the consequences of the pandemic. Most importantly, policy responses look
misaligned with estimated preferences. Italy adopted more stringent containment
measures, while Italian respondents display a relatively weaker pro-health attitude.
We stress-test this result and find it is robust: it does not stem either from a
reaction to the policies adopted or from differences in fundamentals, such as labor
market conditions and health costs.