The logics of COVID-19 travel restrictions between European countries

Objectives: The article analyzes the existence of bilateral travel restrictions between European countries during the second wave of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic. The paper tests three sets of theoretically derived predictions, which follow epidemiological, economic, and political logics. Method: We analyze a sample of directed bilateral travel restrictions between 27 European countries: 27.26 = 702 country dyads over a period of 6 months during the second wave of the pandemic. Results: We find robust and relevant results for the difference in incidence rates, for income from tourism, for trust in government and public administration and for political inclusiveness. Conclusion: Our analyses demonstrates that economic and political logics exert a strong influence on containment measures and thus stress the relevance of forming a large societal and political coalition against the pandemic.