COVID-19 Induced Asian Discrimination and Health: What Can We Learn from Reported Health Status?

There is a growing literature that provides concrete evidence of the effects of the pandemic on both health and socioeconomic outcomes. While the general negative effects of the pandemic were felt across race, gender, social status, and age, there is emerging literature suggesting a disproportionate negative effect on people of Asian heritage, referred to by some as an “Asian chilling effect”. There is documented evidence that the origin of the COVID-19 virus in Asia led to increased discrimination and xenophobia against individuals of Asian descent, which resulted in an unprecedented rise in anti-Asian hate during COVID. In this paper, we estimate the impact of this treatment on reported health status in the U.S. Using a difference-in-differences (DD) approach, we provide evidence that COVID-induced discrimination against Asians led to a “chilling effect” in the U.S. In particular, we find a decrease in the health status of Asians compared to comparable non-Hispanic Whites from the pandemic onward. Our results are consistent across alternative measures of health. We also conduct multiple tests to ensure the robustness of our results and provide a potential pathway for this effect.