The Socio-Economic Factors of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Turkey: A Spatial Perspective

Abstract

This study investigates the role of various socioeconomic determinants and vaccination rates in the spread of Covid-19 in a spatial setting in Turkey. For this aim, we employ the 41 sub-indicators of Life Index in Provinces data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute which is obtained based on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Better Life Index approach. Our results indicate no global interactions in the transmission process of the disease among Turkish provinces. This means that the infection burden in the neighboring province does not significantly affect the infection burden of a given state. Yet, we show that vaccination rates and the median age of a neighboring province significantly affect the number of total cases in a given province. We find that as the vaccination rates of a neighboring province rise, the number of total cases in a given province also increases. This finding can be attributed to the “neighbor–reliant immunity” concept. It seems that people with vaccine hesitancy toward Covid-19 feel safer without a vaccine when their neighbors are mostly vaccinated. Last, people with a higher satisfaction rate with their health status are more likely to catch the disease due to underestimation of negative consequences.