The impact of state capacity on the cross-country variations in COVID-19 vaccination rates

Abstract

The initial period of vaccination shows strong heterogeneity between countries’ vaccinations rollout, both in the terms of the start of the vaccination process and in the dynamics of the number of people that are vaccinated. A predominant thesis for this observation is that a key determinant of the swift and extensive vaccine rollout is state capacity. Here, we utilize two measures that quantify different aspects of the state capacity: (i) the external capacity (measured through the soft power of the country) and (ii) the internal capacity (measured via the country’s government effectiveness) and provide an empirical test for their relationship with the coronavirus vaccination outcome in the initial period (up to 31st March 2021). By using data on 128 countries and a two-step Heckman approach, we find that the soft power is a robust determinant of whether a country has started with the vaccination process. In addition, the government effectiveness is a key factor that determines vaccine roll-out. Altogether, our findings are in line with the hypothesis that state capacity determines the observed heterogeneity between countries in the initial period of COVID-19 vaccines rollout. As such, they are a stark reminder for the need for transparent and fair global response regarding fair and equitable availability of vaccines to every country.

Institutional quality and COVID-19 vaccination: does decentralization matter?

“…In the context of the current pandemic, a high coverage health system is associated with a more effective vaccination campaign. State Capacity is based on executive, coercive and administrative capacity (Tevdovski et al 2022 ). This is the institutional factor with the second highest estimated coefficient.…”

Determinants of budget deficits: Focus on the effects from the COVID-19 crisis

“…Last but not least, the size, distribution and adjustment of the budget balance in 2020 will determine both the general social prospects and industry-wise economic capabilities of each country in the aftermath of the pandemic (Stojkoski et al, 2020a,b;Tevdovski et al, 2021). The structural changes induced on the economies as they adjust to constraints imposed by health authorities (social distancing, teleworking, movement impediments, capacity restrictions) will redistribute societal resources from highly inflexible sectors to highly adaptive sectors of the economy.…”

Do smart cities perform better in governing the COVID-19 crisis? Empirical evidence from Indonesian cities

“…Many studies have documented varying degrees of harmonization and conformity between the national-level and the state-level responses in public health and other domains within countries. From the institutional policy perspective, scholars emphasize the crucial factor of policy capacity ( Capano et al, 2020 ) and state capacity ( Serikbayeva et al, 2021 ; Tevdovski et al, 2022 ; Wu et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Nevertheless, it is clear that state capacity was the key asset in successfully maintaining public health ( Serikbayeva et al, 2021 ; Wu et al, 2021 ). Many studies use the national government as their unit of analysis or conduct cross-country comparisons ( inter alia Capano et al, 2020 ; Goyal & Howlett, 2021 ; Tevdovski et al, 2022 ; Varkey et al, 2020 ). Recently, studies on the local government level, which are often at the city level, have attracted more attention.…”