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COVID-19 and the role of inequality in French regional departments

Author

Listed:
  • Victor Ginsburgh

    (Université Libre de Bruxelles and CORE, Université Catholique de Louvain)

  • Glenn Magerman

    (Université Libre de Bruxelles and I3h, Université Libre de Bruxelles)

  • Ilaria Natali

    (Université Libre de Bruxelles and I3h, Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the variation in the outbreak of COVID-19 across departments in continental France. We use information on the cumulated number of deaths, discharged patients and infections from COVID-19 at the department level, and study how these relate to income inequality, controlling for other factors. We find that unfortunately, inequality kills: departments with higher income inequality face more deaths, more discharged (gravely ill) patients and more infections. While other papers have studied the impact of the level of income on the severity of COVID-19, we find that it is in fact the dispersion across incomes within the same department that drives the results. Our results suggest that individuals in relatively more precarious conditions deserve dedicated policies, to avoid that temporary shocks such as COVID-19 lead to permanent increases in inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Ginsburgh & Glenn Magerman & Ilaria Natali, 2021. "COVID-19 and the role of inequality in French regional departments," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(2), pages 311-327, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:22:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s10198-020-01254-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10198-020-01254-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary Solon & Steven J. Haider & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2015. "What Are We Weighting For?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 301-316.
    2. Borjas, George J., 2020. "Demographic Determinants of Testing Incidence and COVID-19 Infections in New York City Neighborhoods," IZA Discussion Papers 13115, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Philip Verwimp, 2020. "The Spread of COVID-19 in Belgium: a Municipality-Level Analysis," Working Papers ECARES 2020-25, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Desmet, Klaus & Wacziarg, Romain, 2020. "Understanding Spatial Variation in COVID-19 across the United States," CEPR Discussion Papers 14842, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
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    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Chris Sampson’s journal round-up for 22nd March 2021
      by Chris Sampson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2021-03-22 12:00:01

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Steven Stillman & Mirco Tonin, 2022. "Communities and testing for COVID-19," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(4), pages 617-625, June.
    2. Margareth Antonicelli & Carlo Drago & Alberto Costantiello & Angelo Leogrande, 2025. "Analyzing Income Inequalities across Italian regions: Instrumental Variable Panel Data, K-Means Clustering and Machine Learning Algorithms," Working Papers hal-05091404, HAL.
    3. Bello, Piera & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2022. "Education and COVID-19 excess mortality," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    4. Alvaro Almeida, 2024. "The trade-off between health system resiliency and efficiency: evidence from COVID-19 in European regions," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(1), pages 31-47, February.
    5. Jurgita Markevičiūtė & Jolita Bernatavičienė & Rūta Levulienė & Viktor Medvedev & Povilas Treigys & Julius Venskus, 2022. "Impact of COVID-19-Related Lockdown Measures on Economic and Social Outcomes in Lithuania," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(15), pages 1-20, August.
    6. Bello, Piera & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2021. "Education, Information, and COVID-19 Excess Mortality," IZA Discussion Papers 14402, IZA Network @ LISER.
    7. Ilaria Natali & Mathias Dewatripont & Victor Ginsburgh & Michel Goldman & Patrick Legros, 2023. "Prescription opioids and economic hardship in France," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(9), pages 1473-1504, December.
    8. Akbar Zamanzadeh & Tony Cavoli, 2022. "The effect of nonpharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 infections for lower and middle-income countries: A debiased LASSO approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(7), pages 1-17, July.
    9. Ana Suárez à lvarez & Ana Jesús López Menéndez, 2021. "Approaching The Impact Of Covid-19 From An Inequality Of Opportunity Perspective: An Analysis Of European Countries," Working Papers 595, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    10. Rodney Plat & Maria Vasile & François Roubille & Grégoire Mercier, 2023. "Relationships between the COVID-19 lockdown, socioeconomic factors and acute coronary syndrome hospitalisations in France," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(6), pages 1-15, June.
    11. Sévérin TAMWO & Etayibtalnam KOUDJOM & Aurelien KAMDEM YEYOUOMO, 2024. "Effects of income inequality on COVID-19 in Africa: Accounting for literacy and informal sector," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 60, pages 91-111.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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