Political Death Creep: Revisited Using Hausman-Taylor

Abstract

In an analysis of Covid-19 death recording in 2020, Kunce (2020a) examined whether the perceived political ideology of a state in the U.S. impacted Covid-19 assigned deaths. The idea being that the political 'attitudes' of those responsible for completing and certifying death certificates influenced whether Covid-19 appeared as a cause of death under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new liberal guidance. States that lean more democrat in ideology were found to assign significantly more Covid-19 related deaths than the average state − coined a blue-state political death creep. This paper extends the analysis using state-level panel data from 2020-2022. Results from a Hausman-Taylor instrumental variable model bolsters the conclusions reached by Kunce (2020a) with robust specification.
 
JEL classification numbers: C12, C13, C23.
Keywords: Covid-19 deaths, Panel data, Hausman-Taylor.