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Gimme shelter. Social distancing and income support in times of pandemic

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  • Aminjonov, Ulugbek
  • Bargain, Olivier
  • Bernard, Tanguy

Abstract

Stay-at-home orders feature high in the set of policies used to curb the spread of epidemics such as COVID-19, but are potentially less efficient among poor people who must continue to work during pandemics. We examine how income support programs help poor people comply with stay-at-home order and thereby generate positive health externalities. We use data on work-related mobility in 2020 and on poverty rates for 729 subnational regions of Africa, Latin America and Asia. We focus on within-country differential mobility changes between higher- and lower-poverty regions. Accounting for all time-variant country-level factors, we show that lockdowns have decreased mobility significantly less in poorer regions. In turn, emergency income support programs have helped reduce this difference, mitigating the regional poverty gap in virus exposure through work mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Aminjonov, Ulugbek & Bargain, Olivier & Bernard, Tanguy, 2023. "Gimme shelter. Social distancing and income support in times of pandemic," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:157:y:2023:i:c:s0014292123001368
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104507
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan T. Rothwell & Alexandru Cojocaru & Rajesh Srinivasan & Yeon Soo Kim, 2024. "Global evidence on the economic effects of disease suppression during COVID-19," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Ernest Miguelez & Andrea Morrison, 2023. "Migrant inventors as agents of technological change," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 669-692, April.
    3. Aminjonov, Ulugbek & Bargain, Olivier & Bernard, Tanguy, 2023. "Gimme shelter. Social distancing and income support in times of pandemic," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    4. Lin Ma & Gil Shapira & Damien de Walque & Quy‐Toan Do & Jed Friedman & Andrei A. Levchenko, 2022. "The Intergenerational Mortality Trade‐Off Of Covid‐19 Lockdown Policies," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1427-1468, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Poverty; Policy; Lockdown; Social protection; Compliance; Mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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