Policy responsiveness and institutions in a federal system: Analyzing variations in state-level data transparency and equity issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. (July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sapat, Alka; Lofaro, Ryan J.; Trautman, Benjamin
• Is Part Of: International journal of disaster risk reduction. Volume 77(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Subjects: Covid-19 Pandemic -- Data Transparency -- Agency Theory -- Data Equity -- Federalism -- Institutions; Emergency management -- Periodicals; Risk management -- Periodicals; Disaster relief -- Periodicals; Hazard mitigation -- Periodicals; 363.34
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103066
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2212-4209

Abstract

Abstract: In the absence of a coherent federal response to COVID-19 in the United States, state governments played a significant role with varying policy responses, including in data collection and reporting. However, while accurate data collection and disaggregation is critically important since it is the basis for mitigation policy measures and to combat health disparities, it has received little scholarly attention. To address this gap, this study employs agency theory to focus on state-level determinants of data transparency practices by examining factors affecting variations in state data collection, reporting, and disaggregation of both overall metrics and race/ethnicity data. Using ordered logistic regression analyses, we find that legislatures, rather than governors, are important institutional actors and that a conservative ideology signal and socio-economic factors help predict data reporting and transparency practices. These results suggest that there is a critical need for standardized data collection protocols, the collection of comprehensive race and ethnicity data, and analyses examining data transparency and reductions in information asymmetries as a pandemic response tool—both in the United States and globally.