COVID-19 Crisis and Resilience: Cross-country Evidence

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Article Type: Research Article
Issue: Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026)
Published: 08 April 2026
Pages: 1-14

How to Cite

Jin, J. C., & Han, H. (2026). COVID-19 Crisis and Resilience: Cross-country Evidence. Crisis and Resilience, 2(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.65773/cr.2.2.124

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Authors

Jang C. Jin 1 * , 
Heejae Han 2
1 Jeju Institute of Economic, Research Seo Gwi Po, Jeju Province 63609, South Korea
2 Department of Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL 61801,USA

Abstract

This paper examines the institutional and socioeconomic factors that hindered the resilience of the COVID-19 crisis. An empirical model includes democracy and openness measures that were potential determinants of slow recovery from the pandemic. Other socio-economic factors such as tourism, CO₂, and Monkeypox were also included as control variables. The sample includes 110 countries. One salient feature of the findings is that the recovery pattern from COVID-19 is significantly different, depending on the level of democracy. Many democratic nations, especially in Europe, that were very open to world trade experienced a relatively slow recovery from the pandemic; however, democracy played an insignificant role in authoritarian regimes, including those in Africa, that showed a rapid recovery from the pandemic. The faster recovery observed in authoritarian regimes, however, should not be read as a purely causal effect of democratic backsliding, since it likely reflects the influence of other institutional and structural factors as well. 

Keywords:
pandemic recovery, democracy, globalization, COVID-19, IV estimation

Article Details

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