Data and Code for: "More than Words: Leaders’ Speech and Risky Behavior During a Pandemic"

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Nicolás Ajzenman, São Paulo School of Economics-FGV and IZA; Tiago Cavalcanti, University of Cambridge, CEPR and São Paulo School of Economics-FGV; Daniel Da Mata, São Paulo School of Economics-FGV

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Replication			09/01/2022 03:46:PM

Project Citation:

Ajzenman, Nicolás, Cavalcanti, Tiago , and Da Mata, Daniel . Data and Code for: "More than Words: Leaders’ Speech and Risky Behavior During a Pandemic". Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2023. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-07-19. https://doi.org/10.3886/E171661V1

Project Description

Summary:

This paper investigates whether the anti-scientific rhetoric of modern populists can induce followers to engage in risky behavior. We gather electoral information, credit card expenses, and geo-localized mobile phone data for approximately 60 million devices in Brazil. After the president publicly dismissed the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic and challenged scientific recommendations, social distancing in pro-government localities declined. Consistently, credit card expenses increased immediately. Results are driven by localities with higher media penetration levels, active Twitter accounts, and a larger proportion of Evangelical Christians, a critical electoral group.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Populism; Persuasion; Leadership; Risky Behavior; Health

JEL Classification:
      D10 Household Behavior: General
      D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
      I12 Health Behavior
      I31 General Welfare; Well-Being

Geographic Coverage: Brazil

Data Type(s): aggregate data; census/enumeration data; event/transaction data; geographic information system (GIS) data; observational data

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Published Versions

V1 [2023-07-19]

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