Accounting For Pandemic: Analysing (MIS)Reporting, Crime Rates, and Preventive Behaviour

Abstract

This thesis investigates the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing three distinct yet interconnected essays. These essays examine political, social, and religious issues arising during a global health crisis. The first essay investigates the impact of electoral timing on the precision of COVID-19 mortality reporting across 94 countries in 2020. The study employs a quasi-natural experiment based on the staggered timing of national elections across the globe. The result suggests that incumbents were more inclined to provide accurate information because they were concerned about the potential for electoral repercussions and a decline in public trust. The policy implication is evident: electoral accountability can serve as a check on government transparency during crises, underscoring the importance of ensuring free and fair elections, even in the face of a pandemic. The second essay of this thesis delves into the influence of political regimes on crime rates during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on the effects of stay at-home policies. The study, which uses a quasi-experimental design to assess the impact of the pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home orders on crime rates—particularly theft and burglary—across 89 countries, reveals that these policies led to significant reductions in crime within the first three months of the pandemic in countries that implemented them. Importantly, these effects were more pronounced in less democratic regimes. This finding suggests that the effectiveness of public health measures can be bolstered in environments with stricter enforcement, providing policymakers with a valuable perspective on the role of governance in crisis management. The final essay analyses the influence of religiosity on responses to COVID-19, particularly individual preventive behaviour in the United States. This study utilises a large longitudinal dataset from 2020 to 2022 to examine the actions of various religious groups, specifically bornagain and non-born-again Protestants, regarding COVID-19 safeguards and the subsequent effect on their likelihood of contracting the virus. The results show that born-again Protestants exhibit a reduced propensity to comply with preventive measures, including mask-wearing and vaccines. In contrast, non-born-again Protestants and Catholics are more inclined to adhere to these rules. As a result, born-again Protestants exhibit an increased likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19, which may facilitate the virus's spread in the United States. These essays examine the pandemic's impact, demonstrating how political accountability, governance structures, and religious beliefs shape the outcomes of a global health crisis. The three essays are interconnected through an accountability lens, demonstrating how transparency, governance, and stewardship shape political, social, and religious responses during crises. The thesis provides practical policy recommendations, including the need for culturally sensitive public health communications, adaptive law enforcement strategies, and transparent governance. The thesis contextualises pandemic responses within the broader debates on accountability and governance in the accounting literature by situating these relationships within the stewardship perspective. These add to academic comprehension and offer practical insights for managing future public health emergencies by connecting these diverse strands.