IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v27y2023i4p2007-2039.html

Material and nonmaterial impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence from a low‐income country

Author

Listed:
  • Rebecca Lohmann
  • Lisa Hoffmann

Abstract

How have COVID‐19‐related restrictions affected consumption levels and life satisfaction in low‐income countries? We conducted phone surveys with 577 households in Liberia to compare consumption patterns across three points in time: November 2019 (pre‐COVID‐19), May 2020 (short term), and September 2020 (medium term). This article analyzes the impacts of the Covid‐19 pandemic and the related restrictions on food and nonfood consumption, which we categorize as “material” welfare and life satisfaction, which we categorize as “nonmaterial” welfare. We find differences between food and nonfood consumption patterns under pandemic conditions. In particular, consumption by households dependent on food and labor markets was negatively affected by the pandemic. In terms of life satisfaction, we find that most respondents perceived their lives to have worsened due to the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Rebecca Lohmann & Lisa Hoffmann, 2023. "Material and nonmaterial impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence from a low‐income country," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 2007-2039, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:27:y:2023:i:4:p:2007-2039
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.13021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.13021
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rode.13021?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2008. "Relative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 95-144, March.
    2. Rojas, Mariano, 2008. "Experienced Poverty and Income Poverty in Mexico: A Subjective Well-Being Approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1078-1093, June.
    3. Gashaw T Abate & Alan de Brauw & John Gibson & Kalle Hirvonen & Abdulazize Wolle, 2022. "Telescoping Error in Recalled Food Consumption: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Ethiopia [Video-Based Behavioral Change Communication to Change Consumption Patterns: Experimental Evidence from Urban Ethiopia]," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(4), pages 889-908.
    4. Mahmud, Mahreen & Riley, Emma, 2021. "Household response to an extreme shock: Evidence on the immediate impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on economic outcomes and well-being in rural Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    5. Chakravorty, Bhaskar & Bhatiya, Apurav Yash & Imbert, Clément & Lohnert, Maximilian & Panda, Poonam & Rathelot, Roland, 2023. "Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on India’s rural youth: Evidence from a panel survey and an experiment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    6. Alem, Yonas & Köhlin, Gunnar & Stage, Jesper, 2014. "The Persistence of Subjective Poverty in Urban Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 51-61.
    7. Abate, Gashaw T. & de Brauw, Alan & Hirvonen, Kalle & Wolle, Abdulazize, 2023. "Measuring consumption over the phone: Evidence from a survey experiment in urban Ethiopia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    8. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    9. Boznic,Vladan & Katayama,Roy Shuji & Munoz,Rodrigo & Takamatsu,Shinya & Yoshida,Nobuo, 2017. "Prospects of estimating poverty with phone surveys : experimental results from Serbia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8225, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Khadija Shams & Alexander Kadow, 2019. "The Relationship Between Subjective Well-Being and Work–Life Balance Among Labourers in Pakistan," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 681-690, December.
    2. Songyun Shi & Chenhong Peng & Qian Zhang & Ming Wen & Yu-Chih Chen & Paul S. F. Yip, 2025. "Does Religion Buffer the Negative Effects of Economic and Subjective Poverty on Life Satisfaction? Longitudinal Evidence from Hong Kong," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 20(2), pages 523-542, April.
    3. Kelly Kilburn & Sudhanshu Handa & Gustavo Angeles & Peter Mvula & Maxton Tsoka & UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, 2016. "Happiness and Alleviation of Income Poverty: Impacts of an unconditional cash transfer programme using a subjective well-being approach," Papers inwopa857, Innocenti Working Papers.
    4. Grace Carolina Guevara-Rosero & Andrea Gabriela Bonilla-Bolaños, 2021. "Non-pecuniary Effects of Migration Inflows to Ecuador: Is Residents’ Life Satisfaction Affected?," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1243-1270, December.
    5. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Xavier Ramos, 2010. "Inequality Aversion and Risk Attitudes," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 271, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    6. Irena Kogan & Jing Shen & Manuel Siegert, 2018. "What Makes a Satisfied Immigrant? Host-Country Characteristics and Immigrants’ Life Satisfaction in Eighteen European Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1783-1809, August.
    7. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2011. "A hasznosság és a relatív jövedelem kapcsolatának vizsgálata magyar adatok segítségével [Examining the relation of utility and relative income using Hungarian data]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 56-73.
    8. Mengyuan Sui & Haifeng Ding & Bo Xu & Mingxing Zhou, 2022. "The Impact of Internet Use on the Happiness of Chinese Civil Servants: A Mediation Analysis Based on Self-Rated Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-16, October.
    9. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Wooden, Mark, 2014. "What can life satisfaction data tell us about discrimination against sexual minorities? A structural equation model for Australia and the United Kingdom," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60278, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Binder, Martin & Coad, Alex, 2013. "“I'm afraid I have bad news for you…” Estimating the impact of different health impairments on subjective well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 155-167.
    11. Bertram, Christine & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2015. "The role of urban green space for human well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 139-152.
    12. Jaikumar, Saravana & Singh, Ramendra & Sarin, Ankur, 2018. "‘I show off, so I am well off’: Subjective economic well-being and conspicuous consumption in an emerging economy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 386-393.
    13. Ekaterina Oparina & Sorawoot Srisuma, 2022. "Analyzing Subjective Well-Being Data with Misclassification," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 730-743, April.
    14. Christopher Mackie & Conal Smith, 2015. "Conceptualizing Subjective Well-Being And Its Many Dimensions – Implications For Data Collection In Official Statistics And For Policy Relevance," Statistics in Transition New Series, Polish Statistical Association, vol. 16(3), pages 335-372, September.
    15. Mikucka, Malgorzata & Sarracino, Francesco & Dubrow, Joshua K., 2017. "When Does Economic Growth Improve Life Satisfaction? Multilevel Analysis of the Roles of Social Trust and Income Inequality in 46 Countries, 1981–2012," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 447-459.
    16. Dickerson, Andy & Hole, Arne Risa & Munford, Luke A., 2014. "The relationship between well-being and commuting revisited: Does the choice of methodology matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 321-329.
    17. Fulvio Castellacci & Henrik Schwabe, 2020. "Internet, unmet aspirations and the U-shape of life," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-22, June.
    18. Peterson-Wilhelm, Bailey & Schwab, Benjamin, 2024. "How does recall bias in farm labor impact separability tests?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    19. Yanhong Qian & Lei Yan, 2021. "Petrol Prices and Subjective Well-Being - Longitudinal Data Evidence From China," Energy RESEARCH LETTERS, Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association, vol. 2(4), pages 1-5.
    20. Dufhues, Thomas & Möllers, Judith & Jantsch, Antje & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Camfield, Laura, 2023. "Don’t look up! Individual income comparisons and subjective well-being of students in Thailand," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 477-503.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:27:y:2023:i:4:p:2007-2039. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.