Individualism and the Fight against COVID-19

We demonstrate that COVID-19 displays a spatial discontinuity along the former East-West German border and German virus-fighting policies are more effective in former pro-state and pro-collectivism East German districts. In an international setting using the number of Nobel-Prize winners as an instrument, we show that individualism aggravates the severity of COVID-19 through reducing the effectiveness of social distancing and mobility restriction policies. We conclude that individualism potentially impedes the containment of COVID-19. A greater reluctance among people in more individualistic cultures to heed virus-fighting policies can potentially impose a negative public health externality during a pandemic.