Economic Behavior and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cooperation, Consumption, and Entrepreneurship - Presented by Division 9, Economic Psychology
Economic Behavior and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cooperation, Consumption, and Entrepreneurship
Organizers: Tomasz Zaleskiewicz, Erik Hoelzl, Fabian Christandl
Talk 1: The Pandemic: Policy Decisions and Reflections on Strengthening Future Cooperation Between Citizens and the State
Erich Kirchler
University of Vienna and Institute for Advances Studies, Vienna (Austria)
Abstract:
Governments took remarkable measures during the pandemic to protect the health of citizens and the economy. In order to achieve the intended effects of these measures, citizen compliance and cooperation is vital. In addition, unprecedented financial support has resulted in a national debt that will eventually require higher taxes. In other words, a strong sense of community needs to be fostered as a basis on which to manage the pandemic and its aftermath.
How do citizens feel about government restrictions and economic stimulus measures as a reaction to the crisis? Which psychological findings should politicians and experts consider when reflecting on strategies in order to improve future cooperation?
In previous work with psychologists, economists and lawyers, we derived the following aspects as the most important aspects: communication, transparency and justification of measures, access to support, service delivery, targeted audits and penalties for free riding, establishment of social cooperation norms, consideration of framing effects, development of plans and strategies for the future, and anticipation of hindsight biases.
Talk 2: The Consequences of Covid-19 for Entrepreneurship
Ute Stephan
King’s College London, UK
Abstract:
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs including the self-employed) account for 90% of businesses globally and provide 70% of employment worldwide. These businesses are typically entrepreneur led. To discuss the consequences of the pandemic for entrepreneurship, I draw on a study of over 5,000 such entrepreneurs in 23 countries representing 3/4 of the world’s economic output. I reflect on the challenges and resilience of entrepreneurs, how they adapted to the pandemic to protect their businesses, and how they navigated the stresses of the pandemic to safeguard their personal wellbeing. I close with trends for entrepreneurship in the post-Covid economy.
Talk 3: Did the Covid-19 Pandemic Curb Food Waste in Italian Households? Mediated Impacts via Consumer Sentiments and New, Online Shopping Routines
Roberta Iovino
Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy
Francesco Testa
Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy
John Thøgersen
Aarhus University, Denmark
Abstract:
Among the many different side-effects of the pandemic, it seems reasonable to assume that it might have influenced consumer’s attention to and action to reduce food waste. Besides health concerns, it seems likely that the pandemic might have given rise to economic and environmental concerns among consumers and also to changes in everyday routines, such as an increase in online food shopping, which might next have affected their food waste avoidance behaviour. Our theoretical framework and hypotheses development were based on pertinent food waste literature that encloses psychological, social practices, and food-related lifestyles approaches. We collected data through an online questionnaire-based survey, administered to a representative sample of the Italian population aged 18-70 (N=1000) during September 2020 and we used SEM to analyze data. We find that both psychological and routine-based responses to the Covid pandemic affect consumer food waste avoidance efforts, both directly and via some food-related lifestyles. While economic concern shows a positive direct effect on consumer efforts to avoid food waste, environmental concern influences these efforts indirectly via more frugal shopping styles and the increasing use of food information. The new online food shopping routines seem to lower consumer commitment toward food waste avoidance, being associated with a more impulsive shopping style.
Talk 4: How Did COVID-19 Affect the Financial Provision for the Common Good?
Cinzia Castiglioni & Edoardo Lozza
Faculty of Psychology, Università Cattolica, Milan (Italy)
Abstract:
In light of recent events and global key challenges (e.g., global financial crisis, social inequalities, climate change, coronavirus pandemic, etc.) governments from all over the world will require a significant amount of financial resources to promote a sustainable development. Such concern has reached its peak during the most recent coronavirus crisis, which led to an increased tension between focusing on one’s own self-interest and providing for the common good. Three different streams of research can help gain a better understanding on this topic. First, the orientation towards the common good provision has been found to be an antecedent of prosocial financial behavior (i.e., tax payment and charitable giving). In addition, two studies performed at different times of the pandemic spread showed that the orientation towards the common good is key in determining individuals’ propensity to financially provide for the National Healthcare System. Finally, a tracking study showed how the common good orientation has changed before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. On the whole, these results show how understanding the antecedents of prosocial financial behavior and motivating individuals to be cooperative and bear personal costs for the common good is of great importance for policymakers to support sustainable economic growth.
Presented on January 18, 2022
