Den förväntade nyttan av att inte följa rekommendationer : En tvärsnittsanalys av individens efterlevnad av de allmänna råden och rekommendationerna under COVID-19 pandemin i Sverige

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to investigate which groups of individuals are less likely to follow the authorities’ recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. The thesis aims to explain the decision-making of these individuals during a pandemic based on the theory of Expected Utility. A linear probability model is estimated in addition to a logistic regression. The study finds that the estimated effect of gender and age are significantly different from zero when considering socioeconomic control variables. The results suggest that older individuals’ expected utility is higher when following the recommendations. For men as well as younger individuals, the theory needs an extended analysis including factors from a behavioural economics point of view. This paper is an addition to an increasing number of studies conducted on the COVID-19 pandemic.