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  • 2020
  • Working Paper

Older People Are Less Pessimistic About the Health Risks of COVID-19

By: Pedro Bordalo, Katherine B. Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli and Andrei Shleifer
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

A central question for understanding behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic, at both the individual and collective levels, is how people perceive the health and economic risks they face. We conducted a survey of over 1,500 Americans from May 6–13, 2020, to understand these risk perceptions. Here we report some preliminary results. Our most striking finding is that perceived personal health risks associated with COVID-19 fall sharply with age.

Keywords

Health Pandemics; Risk and Uncertainty; Perception; Age

Citation

Bordalo, Pedro, Katherine B. Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli, and Andrei Shleifer. "Older People Are Less Pessimistic About the Health Risks of COVID-19." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 27494, July 2020.
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About The Authors

Katherine B. Coffman

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Andrei Shleifer

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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More from the Authors

    • 2023
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    How People Use Statistics

    By: Pedro Bordalo, John J. Conlon, Nicola Gennaioli, Spencer Yongwook Kwon and Andrei Shleifer
    • January 2023
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    Inclusion and Diversity at Mars Petcare

    By: Katherine Coffman and Tom Quinn
    • 2022
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    Imagining the Future: Memory, Simulation and Beliefs about COVID

    By: Pedro Bordalo, Giovanni Burro, Katherine B. Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli and Andrei Shleifer
More from the Authors
  • How People Use Statistics By: Pedro Bordalo, John J. Conlon, Nicola Gennaioli, Spencer Yongwook Kwon and Andrei Shleifer
  • Inclusion and Diversity at Mars Petcare By: Katherine Coffman and Tom Quinn
  • Imagining the Future: Memory, Simulation and Beliefs about COVID By: Pedro Bordalo, Giovanni Burro, Katherine B. Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli and Andrei Shleifer
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