Cognition, Collaboration, and Collective Action: Turkey’s Response to Covid-19

Turkey is among the top 10 countries in the world with regard to the number of cases of COVID-19, and the increase in the daily number of new cases. The epicenter of the pandemic is Istanbul, which has about 60% of all cases in Turkey. According to the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker Project (2020), Turkey is among the top 10 OECD countries with the most stringent policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, I will first discuss policy responses to COVID- 19 in Turkey, identify points of break down in inter-organizational collaboration, and consider implementation failures emanating from poor policy design. In the second section I will use results from a survey study that was fielded in April in Istanbul and consider individual compliance with government imposed COVID-19 measures as a form of collective action problem. The final analysis will highlight the role of individual cognition of risk, and positive evaluation of policy responses on individual compliance with COVID-19 related measures.