Business, as usual? The impact of organized economic interests on the stringency of Covid-19 containment policies: insights from the Italian case

IF 3.2 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS Socio-Economic Review Pub Date : 2024-03-07 DOI:10.1093/ser/mwae013

Arianna Tassinari, Demetrio Panarello, Giorgio Tassinari, Fabrizio Alboni, Ignazio Drudi, Francesco Bagnardi

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Abstract

How do organized economic interests affect the governance of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic? We investigate whether the structural and instrumental power of employer organizations and unions impact upon the stringency of containment measures implemented by governing authorities to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on Italy during the first Covid-19 wave of early 2020 as a crucial case. Using Hausman–Taylor panel regression models and original indicators of regional stringency and of unions and employers’ organizations’ efforts to exercise instrumental power via public pressure on social media, we find that the intensity of public pressure by employer organizations is negatively correlated with the stringency of the policy responses implemented by regional authorities to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst union pressures only show a limited effect. Our findings demonstrate that business pressure and the interplay of economic and class interests are constitutive of the governance of a crucial social and public health phenomenon such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

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一切照旧？有组织的经济利益对 Covid-19 严格遏制政策的影响：意大利案例的启示

有组织的经济利益如何影响 2019 年冠状病毒病（Covid-19）大流行的治理？我们研究了雇主组织和工会的结构性和工具性力量是否会影响管理当局为应对 Covid-19 大流行而实施的遏制措施的严格程度，并将 2020 年初第一次 Covid-19 浪潮期间的意大利作为关键案例进行了重点研究。利用豪斯曼-泰勒面板回归模型和地区严格程度的原始指标，以及工会和雇主组织通过在社交媒体上施加公众压力来行使工具性权力的努力的原始指标，我们发现雇主组织施加公众压力的强度与地区当局为应对 Covid-19 大流行病而实施的政策反应的严格程度呈负相关，而工会的压力仅显示出有限的影响。我们的研究结果表明，企业压力以及经济利益和阶级利益的相互作用是 Covid-19 大流行病这种重要的社会和公共卫生现象治理的构成因素。

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Socio-Economic Review Multiple-

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6.80

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10.80%

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期刊介绍： Originating in the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE), Socio-Economic Review (SER) is part of a broader movement in the social sciences for the rediscovery of the socio-political foundations of the economy. Devoted to the advancement of socio-economics, it deals with the analytical, political and moral questions arising at the intersection between economy and society. Articles in SER explore how the economy is or should be governed by social relations, institutional rules, political decisions, and cultural values. They also consider how the economy in turn affects the society of which it is part, for example by breaking up old institutional forms and giving rise to new ones. The domain of the journal is deliberately broadly conceived, so new variations to its general theme may be discovered and editors can learn from the papers that readers submit. To enhance international dialogue, Socio-Economic Review accepts the submission of translated articles that are simultaneously published in a language other than English. In pursuit of its program, SER is eager to promote interdisciplinary dialogue between sociology, economics, political science and moral philosophy, through both empirical and theoretical work. Empirical papers may be qualitative as well as quantitative, and theoretical papers will not be confined to deductive model-building. Papers suggestive of more generalizable insights into the economy as a domain of social action will be preferred over narrowly specialized work. While firmly committed to the highest standards of scholarly excellence, Socio-Economic Review encourages discussion of the practical and ethical dimensions of economic action, with the intention to contribute to both the advancement of social science and the building of a good economy in a good society.