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Welfare Costs of COVID-19: Evidence from U.S. Counties

Author

Listed:
  • Hakan Yilmazkuday

    (Department of Economics, Florida International University)

Abstract

Using daily U.S. county-level data on consumption, employment, mobility and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, this paper investigates the welfare costs of COVID-19. The investigation is achieved by using implications of a model, where there is a trade-off between consumption and COVID-19 cases that are both determined by the optimal mobility decision of individuals. The empirical results show evidence for about 11% of an average (across days) reduction of welfare during the sample period between February and December, 2020 for the average county. There is also evidence for heterogeneous welfare costs across U.S. counties and days, where certain counties have experienced welfare reductions up to 46% on average across days and up to 97% in late March, 2020 that are further connected to the socioeconomic characteristics of the U.S. counties.

Suggested Citation

  • Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2021. "Welfare Costs of COVID-19: Evidence from U.S. Counties," Working Papers 2111, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:fiu:wpaper:2111
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2020. "COVID-19 Spread and Inter-County Travel: Daily Evidence from the U.S," Working Papers 2007, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
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    5. Dingel, Jonathan I. & Neiman, Brent, 2020. "How many jobs can be done at home?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
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    7. Fang, Hanming & Wang, Long & Yang, Yang, 2020. "Human mobility restrictions and the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Florida & Todd Gabe, 2023. "COVID-19, the New Urban Crisis, and Cities: How COVID-19 Compounds the Influence of Economic Segregation and Inequality on Metropolitan Economic Performance," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 37(4), pages 328-348, November.
    2. Wu, Jianxin & Zhan, Xiaoling & Xu, Hui & Ma, Chunbo, 2023. "The economic impacts of COVID-19 and city lockdown: Early evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 151-165.
    3. Oudom Hean & Nattanicha Chairassamee, 2023. "The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. entrepreneurship," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, December.
    4. Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2023. "COVID-19 and housing prices: evidence from U.S. county-level data," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 43(2), pages 241-263, August.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R13 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies

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