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Fear of COVID-19 changes economic preferences: evidence from a repeated cross-sectional MTurk survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2025

Abdelaziz Alsharawy Open the ORCID record for Abdelaziz Alsharawy [Opens in a new window] ,
Sheryl Ball Open the ORCID record for Sheryl Ball [Opens in a new window] ,
Alec Smith Open the ORCID record for Alec Smith [Opens in a new window]  and
Ross Spoon Open the ORCID record for Ross Spoon [Opens in a new window]
Abdelaziz Alsharawy
Affiliation:
School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
Sheryl Ball
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Alec Smith*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Ross Spoon
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
*
e-mail: alecsmith@vt.edu
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Abstract

The personal experience of events such as financial crises and natural disasters can alter economic preferences. We administered a repeated cross-sectional preference survey during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, collecting three bi-weekly samples from participants recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. The survey elicits economic preferences, self-reported fear of the pandemic, and beliefs about economic and health consequences. Preferences varied over time and across regions, and self-reported fear of the pandemic explains this variation. These findings suggest caution about the generalizability of some types of experimental work during times of heightened fear.

Keywords

COVID-19Economic preferencesRiskTime preferencesFear

JEL classification

I19: Other D91: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡ H59: Other
Type
Original Paper
Information
Journal of the Economic Science Association , Volume 7 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Experiments in the time of COVID 19 – Challenges and Insights (Pages 103-209) , December 2021 , pp. 103 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Economic Science Association

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