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Lockdown Accounting

Author

Listed:
  • Gottlieb Charles

    (University of St. Gallen, Sankt Gallen, Switzerland)

  • Grobovšek Jan

    (University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK)

  • Poschke Markus

    (McGill University, Montreal, Canada)

  • Saltiel Fernando

    (McGill University, Montreal, Canada)

Abstract

We use an accounting framework to evaluate the aggregate impact of a common lockdown policy for 85 countries. We find that poorer countries devote more labor to essential activities that are unaffected by the lockdown, while richer countries can more easily substitute non-essential employment with work from home. The lockdown generates an employment response that is U-shaped in income: it drops by 32% in the poorest quintile of the distribution, by 36% in the middle quintile, and by 31% in the richest quintile. Annualized GDP declines by 39% in the bottom three quintiles and by 31% in the richest quintile. Agriculture, an essential sector, is key in sustaining employment and economic activity in poorer countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Gottlieb Charles & Grobovšek Jan & Poschke Markus & Saltiel Fernando, 2022. "Lockdown Accounting," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 22(1), pages 197-210, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejmac:v:22:y:2022:i:1:p:197-210:n:6
    DOI: 10.1515/bejm-2020-0251
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    Cited by:

    1. Cecilia Peluffo & Mariana Viollaz, 2021. "Intra-household exposure to labor market risk in the time of Covid-19: lessons from Mexico," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 327-351, June.
    2. Chen, Jingjing & Chen, Wei & Liu, Ernest & Luo, Jie & Song, Zheng, 2025. "The economic cost of locking down like China: Evidence from city-to-city truck flows," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    3. Sangmin Aum & Sang Yoon (Tim) Lee & Yongseok Shin, 2022. "Who Should Work from Home During a Pandemic? The Wage-Infection Trade-off," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 104(2), pages 92-109.
    4. Leonardo Fabio Morales & Leonardo Bonilla‐Mejía & Jose Pulido & Luz A. Flórez & Didier Hermida & Karen L. Pulido‐Mahecha & Francisco Lasso‐Valderrama, 2022. "Effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the Colombian labour market: Disentangling the effect of sector‐specific mobility restrictions," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(S1), pages 308-357, February.
    5. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas & Veronika Penciakova & Nick Sander, 2020. "COVID-19 and SME Failures," IMF Working Papers 2020/207, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas & Ṣebnem Kalemli-Özcan & Veronika Penciakova & Nick Sander, 2021. "Fiscal Policy in the Age of COVID: Does it ‘Get in all of the Cracks?’," NBER Working Papers 29293, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Antonio Estache & Simon Tooth, 2020. "On the scope for work-from-home in high and upper middle-income countries," Working Papers ECARES 2020-46, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Blagica Petreski & Marjan Petreski & Bojan Srbinoski, 2020. "The potential of export-oriented companies to contribute to post-Covid-19 economic recovery in North Macedonia," Finance Think Policy Studies 2020-12/33, Finance Think - Economic Research and Policy Institute.
    9. Mateusz Filipski & Anubhab Gupta & Justin Kagin & Arif Husain & Alejandro Grinspun & Oscar Maria Caccavale & Silvio Daidone & Valerio Giuffrida & Friederike Greb & Joseph Hooker & Susanna Sandström & , 2022. "A local general‐equilibrium emergency response modeling approach for sub‐Saharan Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(1), pages 72-89, January.
    10. Nelson, Michael A., 2021. "The timing and aggressiveness of early government response to COVID-19: Political systems, societal culture, and more," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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