Health-care preventive measures, logistics challenges and corporate social responsibility during the COVID-19 pandemic: break the ice

Purpose The study aims to analyze the role of coronavirus testing capacity to possibly reduce the case fatality ratio (CFR) in a large cross-section of countries. The study controlled health-care expenditures, logistics performance index (LPI), carbon damages, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to understand the nature of causation between the CFR and stated factors. Design/methodology/approach The study used a cross-sectional regression apparatus for coefficient estimates and variance decomposition analysis (VDA) for forecasting relationships between the variables over time. Findings The results confirmed the W-shaped relationship between CFR and case-to-test ratio (CTR) in the presence of a LPI that exacerbates the CFR cases across countries. The VDA estimates suggest that carbon damages, logistics activities, and CSR are likely to influence CFR over time. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, the study is believed to be the first study that assesses the W-shaped relationship between the CFR and CTR in the presence of dynamic variables, which helps to formulate long-term sustainable health-care policies worldwide.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the role of coronavirus testing capacity in reducing the case fatality ratio in various countries, and found that logistic performance index, carbon damages, and corporate social responsibility may influence the case fatality ratio over time.