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COVID-19 Lockdown Policy and Heterogeneous Responses of Urban Mobility: Evidence from the Philippines

Author

Listed:
  • Yi Jiang

    (Asian Development Bank)

  • Jade Laranjo

    (Asian Development Bank)

  • Milan Thomas

    (Asian Development Bank)

Abstract

Throughout 2020, national and subnational governments worldwide implemented nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). These included community quarantines, also known as lockdowns, of varying length, scope, and stringency that restricted mobility. To assess the effect of community quarantines on urban mobility in the Philippines, we analyze a new source of data: cellphone-based origin–destination flows made available by a major telecommunication company. First, we demonstrate the impulse responses of mobility to lockdowns of varying stringency levels over six months starting in March 2020. Then we assess the heterogeneous effects of lockdowns by city characteristics, focusing on employment composition. This analysis reveals that the effect of lockdowns was strongest in cities where a high share of workforce was employed in work-from-home-friendly sectors or medium to large enterprises. We compare our f indings with cross-country evidence on lockdowns and mobility, discuss the economic implications for containment policies in the Philippines, and suggest additional research that can be based on this novel dataset.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi Jiang & Jade Laranjo & Milan Thomas, 2022. "COVID-19 Lockdown Policy and Heterogeneous Responses of Urban Mobility: Evidence from the Philippines," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 659, Asian Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:adbewp:0659
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thomas Hale & Noam Angrist & Rafael Goldszmidt & Beatriz Kira & Anna Petherick & Toby Phillips & Samuel Webster & Emily Cameron-Blake & Laura Hallas & Saptarshi Majumdar & Helen Tatlow, 2021. "A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 529-538, April.
    2. Edward L. Glaeser & Caitlin S. Gorback & Stephen J. Redding, 2020. "How Much Does COVID-19 Increase with Mobility? Evidence from New York and Four Other U.S. Cities," Working Papers 2020-22, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    3. Eduardo Levy Yeyati & Patricio Goldstein & Luca Sartorio, 2021. "Lockdown Fatigue: The Diminishing Effects of Quarantines on the Spread of COVID-19," Growth Lab Working Papers 170, Harvard's Growth Lab.
    4. repec:udt:wpecon:wp_gob_2021_01 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Bagas Aditya & Ikhwan Amri, 2023. "Rethinking Informal Economy Resilience during Crisis: Experience from COVID-19 Pandemic," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 66(3), pages 711-737, September.
    2. Eugenia Go & Kentaro Nakajima & Yasuyuki Sawada & Kiyoshi Taniguchi, 2023. "Satellite-Based Vehicle Flow Data to Assess Local Economic Activities," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1209, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    3. repec:osf:osfxxx:wgka2_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Mari-Isabella Stan & Tanase Tasente & Mihaela Rus, 2023. "Challenges and opportunities regarding the COVID-19 pandemic on urban mobility in Constanta, Romania," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 42(1), pages 1-14, April.
    5. OYEDELE, Gbeminiyi Joshua & Shanker, Ankit & Tildesley, Michael J. & Vlaev, Ivo, 2024. "Assessing the Relationships Between Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation in Influencing Self-Isolation Behaviour During Pandemics," OSF Preprints wgka2, Center for Open Science.
    6. Hung-Ying Chen & Colin McFarlane & Priyam Tripathy, 2024. "Density and pandemic urbanism: Exposure and networked density in Manila and Taipei," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(8), pages 1526-1544, June.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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