Abstract
The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence on the economic effectiveness of government measures in response to the COVID-19 crisis in OECD countries. We use the likelihood ratio panel probit model for 30 OECD countries with a monthly frequency from January 2020 to March 2021. We study the response of the interest rate, unemployment rate, and total industry output index to different types of government actions, including the economic support index, workplace closures, and public transportation shutdown, among others. The results show that the measures taken by governments to combat COVID-19, while saving lives, are not as effective as hoped in supporting the economy. The results highlight that economic support measures fail to reduce unemployment while preventing a free fall in the interest rate and the industrial production index. We conclude that a local industrial strategy is a starting point for addressing inequality and rebuilding a labour market more resilient to future crisis. Thinking holistically about smart industrial policies, capable of reallocating resources to specific key sectors (such as healthcare), will contribute to long-term economic resilience and growth, as well as creating conditions for sustainability.
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Data Availability
The unemployment rate, interest rate and industrial production index are available on the OECD DATA website: https://www.oecd.org/en/data.html. Confirmed cases of COVID-19 for each country are taken from the Johns Hopkins University website: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html.
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Abdelkafi, I., Romdhane, Y.B. & Loukil, S. Effectiveness of Government Measures Against COVID-19 Pandemic in OECD Countries. J Knowl Econ (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02411-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02411-z