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WEBINAR: Prof. Irene van Staveren: Social Cohesion and Covid around the world: are there any effects on infection and death rates?
February 11, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm CET
Free
Invited Speaker
Professor Irene van Staveren
Professor of Pluralist Development Economics
International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam
There is an increasing empirical literature on covid and social capital/social cohesion (often used interchangeably). Social capital/social cohesion is measured with a wide variety of variables, some of them actually not representing what they claim to represent.
Most papers are at the micro level but there are a few cross-country studies. Our paper is a cross-country analysis in which we analyze the effect of intergroup cohesion and personal safety and trust (two indices from the database Indices of Social Development) on covid-19 infection rates and death cases in 2020. We use a set of relevant control variables.
We find that both social cohesion and safety& trust have a statistically significant negative relationship with covid-19 infection and death rates. We discuss our findings in relation to government policies and suggest possible mechanisms, based on the social capital/social cohesion literature.
About the presenter:
Irene van Staveren is professor of pluralist development economics at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Professor van Staveren’s theoretical interest is in feminist economics, social economics, institutional economics and post-Keynesian economics. Her key research interest is at the meso level of the economy with topics such as social cohesion, social exclusion, inequality and discrimination, as well as ethics and values in the economy and in economics. She is project leader of the online database Indices of Social Development. In addition, van Staveren is member of the think tank Sustainable Finance Lab and on the board of the student initiative Rethinking Economics NL. She published in 2015 a pluralist economics textbook with Routledge, titled Economics after the Crisis – an introduction to economics from a pluralist and global perspective. She turned this book into a mooc (massive open online course) on the platform Coursera named Introduction to Economic Theories.
About Our Webinar Series
This event is part of our regular webinar sessions for social capital researchers including PhD/master students. These sessions include invited presentations from prominent scholars as well as presentations by PhD students and experts in professional practice.
For social capital researchers, these sessions are an opportunity to hear about the latest social capital research and insights from scholars working on the concept. They can be a great way to connect with people, to get advice, discuss ideas or issues, get suggestions for literature to read, or you can just listen.
Are you researching social capital and want to present your research? Click here for more information and to submit a proposal.
Generally, presentations can be 20 to 30 mins. The content of your presentation will depend on your research stage.
