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Opinion: Social distancing responses to COVID-19 emergency declarations strongly differentiated by income

Author

Listed:
  • Joakim A. Weill

    (Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616)

  • Matthieu Stigler

    (Center on Food Security and the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305)

  • Olivier Deschenes

    (Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106)

  • Michael R. Springborn

    (Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616)

Abstract

In the absence of a vaccine, social distancing measures are one of the primary tools to reduce the transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We show that social distancing following US state-level emergency declarations substantially varies by income. Using mobility measures derived from mobile device location pings, we find that wealthier areas decreased mobility significantly more than poorer areas, and this general pattern holds across income quantiles, data sources, and mobility measures. Using an event study design focusing on behavior subsequent to state emergency orders, we document a reversal in the ordering of social distancing by income: Wealthy areas went from most mobile before the pandemic to least mobile, while, for multiple measures, the poorest areas went from least mobile to most. Previous research has shown that lower income communities have higher levels of preexisting health conditions and lower access to healthcare. Combining this with our core finding—that lower income communities exhibit less social distancing—suggests a double burden of the COVID-19 pandemic with stark distributional implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Joakim A. Weill & Matthieu Stigler & Olivier Deschenes & Michael R. Springborn, 2020. "Opinion: Social distancing responses to COVID-19 emergency declarations strongly differentiated by income," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(33), pages 19658-19660, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:117:y:2020:p:19658-19660
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    Cited by:

    1. Yu, Ling & Zhao, Pengjun & Tang, Junqing & Pang, Liang, 2023. "Changes in tourist mobility after COVID-19 outbreaks," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Wang, Wei & Miao, Wei & Liu, Yongdong & Deng, Yiting & Cao, Yunfei, 2022. "The impact of COVID-19 on the ride-sharing industry and its recovery: Causal evidence from China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 128-141.
    3. Katarzyna Czech & Anna Davy & Michał Wielechowski, 2021. "Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Change Human Mobility Equally Worldwide? Cross-Country Cluster Analysis," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Marco Dueñas & Mercedes Campi & Luis E. Olmos, 2021. "Changes in mobility and socioeconomic conditions during the COVID-19 outbreak," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Nicola Borri & Francesco Drago & Chiara Santantonio & Francesco Sobbrio, 2021. "The “Great Lockdown”: Inactive workers and mortality by Covid‐19," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(10), pages 2367-2382, September.
    6. Mišík, Matúš & Nosko, Andrej, 2023. "Post-pandemic lessons for EU energy and climate policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Introduction to a special issue on EU green recovery in the post-Covid-19 period," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    7. Joakim A. Weill & Matthieu Stigler & Olivier Deschenes & Michael R. Springborn, 2021. "Researchers' Degrees-of-Flexibility and the Credibility of Difference-in-Differences Estimates: Evidence From the Pandemic Policy Evaluations," NBER Working Papers 29550, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Andrés Niembro & Carla Daniela Calá, 2021. "Approximating the impact of COVID–19 on regional production in countries with scarce subnational data: A proposal and application for Argentina during the first wave," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 8, pages 167-186.
    9. Davide Furceri & Mr. Jonathan David Ostry, 2021. "Initial Output Losses from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Robust Determinants," IMF Working Papers 2021/018, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Fernanda Marquez-Padilla & Biani Saavedra, 2022. "The unintended effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders on abortions," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 269-305, January.
    11. José Garcia Montalvo & Marta Reynal-Querol, 2020. "Distributional effects of COVID-19 on spending: A first look at the evidence from Spain," Economics Working Papers 1740, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    12. Burridge, James & Gnacik, Michał, 2022. "Public efforts to reduce disease transmission implied from a spatial game," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 589(C).
    13. Fabio Vanni & David Lambert, 2021. "On the regularity of human mobility patterns at times of a pandemic," Papers 2104.08975, arXiv.org.
    14. Oriol Aspachs & Ruben Durante & Alberto Graziano & Josep Mestres & Marta Reynal-Querol & Jose G Montalvo, 2021. "Tracking the impact of COVID-19 on economic inequality at high frequency," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, March.
    15. Zang, Emma & West, Jessica S. & Kim, Nathan & Pao, Christina, 2020. "U.S. Regional Disparities in Physical Distancing: Evaluating Racial and Socioeconomic Divides During the COVID-19 Pandemic," SocArXiv e6msz, Center for Open Science.
    16. Weill, Joakim A. & Stigler, Matthieu & Deschenes, Olivier & Springborn, Michael R., 2021. "COVID-19 Mobility Policies Impacts: How Credible Are Difference-in-Differences Estimates?," IZA Discussion Papers 14682, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Umut Akovali & Kamil Yilmaz, 2020. "Polarized Politics of Pandemic Response and the Covid-19 Connectedness Across the U.S. States," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2019, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    18. M. Kate Bundorf & Jill DeMatteis & Grant Miller & Maria Polyakova & Jialu L. Streeter & Jonathan Wivagg, 2021. "Risk Perceptions and Protective Behaviors: Evidence from COVID-19 Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 28741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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