Institutional quarantine and economic preferences: Experimental evidence from China

Abstract

Quarantine is a public health measure that has been used for centuries to curb the spread of infectious diseases, but its social costs remain underexplored. Based on a quarantine event, we conduct online lab-in-the-field experiments in China to examine the effect of institutional quarantine on economic preferences. We find that institutional quarantine reduces social preferences (altruism, trust, and trustworthiness), but has no effect on risk and time preferences. These effects persist throughout the quarantine period. Notably, expressing gratitude through a thank-you note during quarantine can mitigate the adverse effects of institutional quarantine on altruism and trust, though not on trustworthiness. Trust returns to pre-quarantine levels about six months later, altruism also fully recovers after one year and two months, but trustworthiness does not. Policymakers should develop strategies to mitigate the negative social impacts of institutional quarantine.