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Does Mobility Explain Why Slums Were Hit Harder by COVID-19 in Mumbai, India?

Author

Listed:
  • Jaymee Sheng
  • Anup Malani
  • Ashish Goel
  • Purushotham Botla

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 has had a greater burden, as measured by rate of infection, in poorer communities within cities. For example, 55% of Mumbai slums residents had antibodies to COVID-19, 3.2 times the seroprevalence in non-slum areas of the city according to a sero-survey done in July 2020. One explanation is that government suppression was less severe in poorer communities, either because the poor were more likely to be exempt or unable to comply. Another explanation is that effective suppression itself accelerated the epidemic in poor neighborhoods because households are more crowded and residents share toilet and water facilities. We show there is little evidence for the first hypothesis in the context of Mumbai. Using location data from smart phones, we find that slum residents had nominally but not significantly (economically or statistically) higher mobility than non-slums prior to the sero-survey. We also find little evidence that mobility in non-slums was lower than in slums during lockdown, a subset of the period before the survey.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaymee Sheng & Anup Malani & Ashish Goel & Purushotham Botla, 2021. "Does Mobility Explain Why Slums Were Hit Harder by COVID-19 in Mumbai, India?," NBER Working Papers 28541, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28541
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    Cited by:

    1. Arpit Gupta & Anup Malani & Bartosz Woda, 2021. "Inequality in India Declined During COVID," NBER Working Papers 29597, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Kala S. Sridhar, 2023. "Urbanization and COVID‐19 Prevalence in India," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 493-505, April.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • R0 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General

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