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Cited by 249Policy Transfer and LearningCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesPublic Administration and Political Analysis

Explaining the homogeneous diffusion of COVID-19 nonpharmaceutical interventions across heterogeneous countries

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Sebhatu, Abiel, Wennberg, Karl, Arora-Jonsson, Stefan, Lindberg, Staffan I.·2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.2010625117PMC PMC7474611
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Abstract

We analyze the adoption of nonpharmaceutical interventions in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries during the early phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Given the complexity associated with pandemic decisions, governments are faced with the dilemma of how to act quickly when their core decision-making processes are based on deliberations balancing political considerations. Our findings show that, in times of severe crisis, governments follow the lead of others and base their decisions on what other countries do. Governments in countries with a stronger democratic structure are slower to react in the face of the pandemic but are more sensitive to the influence of other countries. We provide insights for research on international policy diffusion and research on the political consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.2010625117

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  • Several other factors are also likely to affect the time to school closure, not least the severity of the threat posed by the pandemic and the increasing likelihood of learning as the pandemic progresses.

    “several other factors are also likely to affect the time to school closure, not least the severity of the threat posed by the pandemic -which affects need perceptions of both decision-makers and voters (Bechtel and Mannino 2022) -and the increasing likelihood of learning as the pandemic progresses (Sebhatu et al. 2020; Weible et al. 2020).”

    From Precaution and proportionality in pandemic politics: democracy, state capacity, and COVID-19-related school closures around the world (2022) · cites this paper as Sebhatu et al. 2020

    The International Policy Diffusion under Uncertainty section (page unavailable) says countries may learn about a policy at different times and that earlier adoptions can influence later decisions. But the Discussion says further research is needed to distinguish learning from emulation or coercion; the paper does not establish that learning becomes more likely as the pandemic progresses or that it affects school-closure timing specifically. The severity clause is cited to a different source. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Research works printed but not linked: 21

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Authors
Sebhatu, A., Wennberg, K., Arora-Jonsson, S., & Lindberg, S. I.
Affiliations
  • Linköping University (SE)
  • Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden;
  • University of Gothenburg (SE)
Corresponding author
Sebhatu, Abiel
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2020-08-11
Volume
117
Issue
35
Pages
21201-21208
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.2010625117
PMC
PMC7474611
OpenAlex
W3048844313
Cited by
249
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 65 · 2020: 13
FWCI
141.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DiVA (Linkoping University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse (2018.0144, Grant 2018.0144)
  • Vetenskapsrådet
  • Göteborgs Universitet
  • H2020 European Research Council (724191)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policy Transfer and Learning
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Public Administration and Political Analysis
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions, international policy diffusion, policy diffusion, democratic institutions, government decision-making, OECD countries, crisis response
MeSH terms
Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Communicable Disease Control, Decision Making, Government, Health Policy, Humans, Models, Theoretical, Pneumonia, Viral, Time Factors, Coronavirus Infections, Uncertainty, Internationality, Pandemics

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