The short-term economic consequences of COVID-19: Exposure to disease, remote work and government response.

We examine the determinants of the consequences of COVID-19 on employment and wages in the United States. Guided by a pre-analysis plan, we investigate whether the economic consequences of COVID-19 were larger for certain occupations, using four indexes: workers relatively more exposed to disease, workers that work with proximity to coworkers, essential/critical workers and workers who can easily work remotely. We find that individuals that work in proximity to others are more affected while individuals able to work remotely and essential workers are less affected by the pandemic. We also present suggestive evidence that our indexes are likely explanations why certain demographic groups such as younger and minority workers have worse labor market outcomes during the pandemic.

The short-term economic consequences of COVID-19: Occupation tasks and mental health in Canada.

In this paper, we study the effect of COVID-19 on the labour market and reported mental health of Canadians. To better understand the effect of the pandemic on the labour market, we build indexes for whether workers: (i) are relatively more exposed to disease, (ii) work in proximity to co-workers, (iii) are essential workers and (iv) can easily work remotely. Our estimates suggest that the impact of COVID-19 was significantly more severe for workers that work in proximity to co-workers and those more exposed to disease who are not in the health sector, while the effects are less severe for essential workers and workers that can work remotely. Last, using the Canadian Perspective Survey Series, we observe that reported mental health is significantly lower among some of the most affected workers such as women and less-educated workers. We also document that those who were absent from work because of COVID-19 are more concerned with meeting their financial obligations and with losing their job than those who continue working outside their home.

Conséquences économiques de la COVID­19 à court terme : tâches professionnelles et santé mentale au Canada. Dans cet article, nous étudions les répercussions de la COVID­19 sur le marché de l'emploi et la santé mentale déclarée des Canadiens. Afin de mieux comprendre les effets de la pandémie sur le marché du travail, nous avons développé des indices permettant de déterminer si les travailleurs : 1) sont relativement plus exposés à la maladie; 2) exercent leur activité à proximité de leurs collègues; 3) sont essentiels; 4) peuvent facilement travailler à distance. D'après nos estimations, les conséquences de la COVID­19 se sont avérées nettement plus sévères chez les travailleurs exerçant à proximité de leurs collègues ainsi que les professionnels (hors secteur médical) davantage exposés à la maladie, mais moins importantes chez les travailleurs essentiels et les télétravailleurs. Enfin, en nous appuyant sur l'une des enquêtes sur les perspectives canadiennes, nous observons que la santé mentale déclarée est nettement inférieure chez les travailleurs les plus touchés, notamment les femmes et les travailleurs moins instruits. Nous montrons également que les personnes écartées de leur travail en raison de la COVID­19 se soucient davantage du respect de leurs obligations financières et de la perte de leur emploi par rapport à celles qui ont pu continuer à travailler hors de leur domicile.

Corrigendum to "On the effects of COVID-19 safer-at-home policies on social distancing, car crashes and pollution" [J. Environ. Econ. Manag. 106 (2021) 102427].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102427.].

A literature review of the economics of COVID-19.

The goal of this piece is to survey the developing and rapidly growing literature on the economic consequences of COVID-19 and the governmental responses, and to synthetize the insights emerging from a very large number of studies. This survey: (i) provides an overview of the data sets and the techniques employed to measure social distancing and COVID-19 cases and deaths; (ii) reviews the literature on the determinants of compliance with and the effectiveness of social distancing; (iii) mentions the macroeconomic and financial impacts including the modelling of plausible mechanisms; (iv) summarizes the literature on the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19, focusing on those aspects related to labor, health, gender, discrimination, and the environment; and (v) summarizes the literature on public policy responses.

Stay-at-home orders, social distancing, and trust.

A clear understanding of community response to government decisions is crucial for policy makers and health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we document the determinants of implementation and compliance with stay-at-home orders in the USA, focusing on trust and social capital. Using cell phone data measuring changes in non-essential trips and average distance traveled, we find that mobility decreases significantly more in high-trust counties than in low-trust counties after the stay-at-home orders are implemented, with larger effects for more stringent orders. We also provide evidence that the estimated effect on post-order compliance is especially large for confidence in the press and governmental institutions, and relatively smaller for confidence in medicine and in science.

On the effects of COVID-19 safer-at-home policies on social distancing, car crashes and pollution.

This paper investigates the impacts of COVID-19 safer-at-home polices on collisions and pollution. We find that statewide safer-at-home policies lead to a 20% reduction in vehicular collisions and that the effect is entirely driven by less severe collisions. For pollution, we find particulate matter concentration levels approximately 1.5 µg/m3 lower during the period of a safer-at-home order, representing a 25% reduction. We document a similar reduction in air pollution following the implementation of similar policies in Europe. We calculate that as of the end of June 2020, the benefits from avoided car collisions in the U.S. were approximately $16 billion while the benefits from reduced air pollution could be as high as $13 billion.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 US presidential election.

What is the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 US presidential election? Guided by a pre-analysis plan, we estimate the effect of COVID-19 cases and deaths on the change in county-level voting for Donald Trump between 2016 and 2020. To account for potential confounders, we include a large number of COVID-19-related controls as well as demographic and socioeconomic variables. Moreover, we instrument the numbers of cases and deaths with the share of workers employed in meat-processing factories to sharpen our identification strategy. We find that COVID-19 cases negatively affected Trump's vote share. The estimated effect appears strongest in urban counties, in states without stay-at-home orders, in swing states, and in states that Trump won in 2016. A simple counterfactual analysis suggests that Trump would likely have won re-election if COVID-19 cases had been 5 percent lower. We also find some evidence that COVID-19 incidence had a positive effect on voters' mobilization, helping Biden win the presidency.

Determinants of Family Stress and Domestic Violence: Lessons from the COVID-19 Outbreak.

In this article, we examine Canadians' concerns regarding the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on domestic violence and family stress. Our empirical analysis relies on a unique survey conducted online, the Canadian Perspective Survey Series, which allows us to investigate the determinants of concerns regarding family stress and domestic violence during the first COVID-19 lockdown. We find no evidence that changes in work arrangements are related to concerns regarding family stress and violence in the home. In contrast, we find that the inability to meet financial obligations and concerns about maintaining social ties are significantly related to concerns about family stress and domestic violence.

Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à l'impact de la maladie à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) sur la violence familiale et le stress familial. Notre analyse empirique repose sur une enquête unique menée en ligne, la Série d'enquêtes sur les perspectives canadiennes (SEPC) qui nous permet d'étudier les facteurs de préoccupation quant au stress et à la violence au sein de la famille au cours du premier confinement du COVID-19. Nous n'avons pas constaté que les changements apportés aux modalités de travail avaient une incidence sur la violence ou le stress au sein de la famille. Au contraire, nous avons trouvé que l'incapacité d'assumer les obligations financières et le souci de maintenir des liens sociaux étaient reliés de manière significative aux préoccupations quant au stress familial et à la violence familiale.

COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends.

The COVID-19 pandemic and government intervention such as lockdowns may severely affect people's mental health. While lockdowns can help to contain the spread of the virus, they may result in substantial damage to population well-being. We use Google Trends data to test whether COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns implemented in Europe and America led to changes in well-being related topic search-terms. Using difference-in-differences and a regression discontinuity design, we find a substantial increase in the search intensity for boredom in Europe and the US. We also found a significant increase in searches for loneliness, worry and sadness, while searches for stress, suicide and divorce on the contrary fell. Our results suggest that people's mental health may have been severely affected by the pandemic and lockdown.