Japan’s voluntary lockdown

Japan’s government has taken a number of measures, including declaring state emergency, to combat the spread COVID-19. We examine mechanisms through which government’s policies have led changes in people’s behavior. Using smartphone location data, we construct daily prefecture-level stay-at-home measure identify following two effects: (1) effect that citizens refrained from going out line with request, and (2) announcements reinforced awareness regard seriousness pandemic people voluntarily out. Our main findings are as follows. First, declaration emergency reduced leaving their homes by 8.5% first channel, is same order magnitude estimates obtained for lockdowns United States. Second, 1% increase new infections prefecture reduces outings 0.027%. Third, requests responsible about one quarter decrease Tokyo, while remaining three quarters result obtaining information release infections. The suggest what mattered containing COVID-19 was not strong, legally binding measures but provision appropriate encouraged change