Words Can Hurt: How Political Communication Can Change the Pace of an Epidemic

• In Event: Pandemics and Populism

Brief Overview

We show that dismissive cues by the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro decreased compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions, thereby increasing hospitalization and deaths.

Authors

• Paula Rettl, Bocconi University

• Jessica Gagete Miranda, Bocconi University

• Lucas Mariani, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill