The Impact of Exogenous Shocks on National Wellbeing. New Zealanders’ Reaction to COVID-19

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aut.filerelease.date2022-10-06
aut.relation.journalApplied Research in Quality of Lifeen_NZ
aut.researcherRossouw, Stephanie
dc.contributor.authorRossouw, Sen_NZ
dc.contributor.authorGreyling, Ten_NZ
dc.contributor.authorMorrison, Pen_NZ
dc.date.accessioned2021-10-12T21:22:16Z
dc.date.available2021-10-12T21:22:16Z
dc.date.copyright2021-10-06en_NZ
dc.date.issued2021-10-06en_NZ
dc.description.abstractIn this paper, we explore the response of an aggregate measure of subjective wellbeing to the arrival and passage of the COVID-19 pandemic in a small, geographically separate economy in the South Pacific. Studies of national wellbeing and emotional responses to infection rates during a pandemic have been rare thus far. While several disciplines offer theoretical priors in the case of individuals, far less attention has been paid to the wellbeing and emotional response at a national level. Our paper contributes to the literature by applying a time-series approach to the relationship between wellbeing, emotions and the passage of a pandemic. As such we contribute to a wider literature on macro responses to exogenous shocks. Our analysis involves the use of a wellbeing index and emotional time-series derived from Big Data in the form of tweets originating within New Zealand. The index captures the daily evaluative mood of the country several weeks before the first domestic case of COVID-19 was recorded until several weeks of no new COVID-19 cases. We find distinct reactions to the pandemic: a initial fall in national wellbeing generated by a decrease in the emotions ‘joy’, ‘anticipation’ and ‘trust’. Following a rapid and severe lockdown designed to limit domestic transmission of the virus national wellbeing recovered relatively quickly. Gaining insight into the wellbeing (happiness) reponse to pandemics at the national level is important because the average level of happiness within countries is known to be associated with a range of economic, social, health and political outcomes.
dc.identifier.citationApplied Research Quality Life (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09977-9
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s11482-021-09977-9
dc.identifier.issn1871-2584en_NZ
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/14573
dc.publisherSpringeren_NZ
dc.relation.urihttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11482-021-09977-9
dc.rights© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Part of Springer Nature. Springer Nature permits authors to self-archive the accepted manuscript (AM), on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period.
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccessen_NZ
dc.subjectWellbeing; Exogenous shocks; Epidemics; COVID-19; New Zealand; Twitter
dc.titleThe Impact of Exogenous Shocks on National Wellbeing. New Zealanders’ Reaction to COVID-19en_NZ
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id441211
pubs.organisational-data/AUT
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Business School Accreditation
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Business School Accreditation/2020
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Business, Economics and Law
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Business, Economics and Law/NZ Work Research Institute
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Culture & Society
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Culture & Society/School of Social Science & Public Policy
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pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Business Economics and Law
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Business Economics and Law/Faculty Review Team PBRF 2018
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/PBRF/PBRF Business Economics and Law/School of Economics PBRF 2018
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