TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Mitze, Timo
AU  - Kosfeld, Reinhold
AU  - Rode, Johannes
AU  - Wälde, Klaus
        TI  - Face Masks Considerably Reduce COVID-19 Cases in Germany: A Synthetic Control Method Approach
        PY  - 2020/Jun/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 13319
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp13319
        AB  - We use the synthetic control method to analyze the effect of face masks on the spread of Covid-19 in Germany. Our identification approach exploits regional variation in the point in time when face masks became compulsory. Depending on the region we analyse, we find that face masks reduced the cumulative number of registered Covid-19 cases between 2.3% and 13% over a period of 10 days after they became compulsory. Assessing the credibility of the various estimates, we conclude that face masks reduce the daily growth rate of reported infections by around 40%.
        KW  - synthetic control method
KW  - face masks
KW  - public health measures
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - Germany
        ER  -