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Current Research

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Economists from around the world are using real time data collection to better understand the impact the Covid-19 crisis is having on families, workers, firms and society, and how policies can help the recovery out of the crisis. Find out more about how these research teams are carrying out their projects, and what their findings are below.

The Covid-19 pandemic and working parents: evidence from Brisith longitudinal data

We document the difficulties faced by working parents during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in particular the increased financial insecurity and worsening mental health due to conflicting family and work needs. We analyse the heterogeneous effects of the...
Primary Topic: Families & households
Secondary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Lead investigator: Zhiming Cheng
Countries

The unequal effects of Covid-19 on economists' research productivity

The current lock-down measures are expected to disproportionately reduce women’s labor productivity in the short run. This paper analyzes the effects of these measures on economists' research productivity. We explore the patterns of working pa...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Families & households
Lead investigator: Noriko Amano-Patino

Using phone surveys to assess the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the delivery of health and nutrition services in rural Ethiopia

This study assesses the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the delivery of health and nutrition services in rural Ethiopia using a phone survey. This three-wave survey will illuminate disruptions to healthcare delivery and adoption of precautionary ...
Secondary Topic: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
Lead investigator: Guush Berhane
Countries

Managing the Covid-19 pandemic in poor urban neighbourhoods: the case of Ghana and South Africa

The novel Coronavirus, Covid-19, and measures to combat it are expected to have a significant impact on the physical and mental well being of all people, but especially those living in poor urban neighbourhoods. We are conducting a panel phone survey...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Families & households
Lead investigator: Isabel Gunther

Tracking the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of American households

Since March 10, 2020, we have been tracking effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on respondents to the nationally representative Understanding America Study (UAS). After an initial survey that covered March 10-31 March 2020, we launched tracking surveys ...
Primary Topic: Families & households
Secondary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Lead investigator: Arie Kapteyn
Countries

Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on economic outcomes and well-being of rural communities in western Uganda

We use high-frequency phone surveys to dynamically track the impact of covid19 over a 3-month period. We already have baseline data on a sample of 1,250 households randomly selected from rural villages in Western Uganda. These baseline surveys were c...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Mahreen Mahmud
Countries

Listening to young lives at work: impact of the global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on young people in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam

The survey aims to answer questions about impact of the pandemic, policies to contain the spread of the virus, and the subsequent economic slowdown in four developing countries. Building on almost twenty years of the project, the survey will examine ...
Secondary Topic: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
Lead investigator: Marta Favara

Preferences, beliefs and behavior during the Covid-19 outbreak

In this study, we examine the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak on beliefs, behavior and preferences in the United States. To identify direct economic effects of the crisis, we measure the negative impact of the pandemic on participants’ health and f...
Lead investigator: Sheryl Ball
Countries

The Covid-19 bailouts

US policy makers responded to the Covid-19 epidemic by providing $1.8 trillion in private sector bailouts. We collect data on all bailouts for publicly-listed firms, document empirical facts of the bailout programs and discuss policy implications. Mo...
Primary Topic: Business, big & small
Lead investigator: Jean-Marie Meier
Countries

The impact of cash in a crisis: evidence from Dandora, Kenya during and after Covid-19

This study will deliver cash grants to microenterprise owners run by women in Dandora, Kenya during the Covid-19 outbreak. We will use a randomized controlled trial to study the impact of cash on economic outcomes both during and after the crisis. Al...
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Wyatt Brooks
Countries

U.S. state Covid-19 stay at home orders: were they driven by scientific, economic, or ideological factors?

What factors affected whether or not a U.S. state governor issued a statewide stay-at-home order in response to the Covid-19 pandemic of early 2020? Once issued, what factors affected the length of this stay-at-home order? Using duration analysis, we...
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Lea-Rachel Kosnik
Countries

Labor market outcomes and time use during the Coronavirus outbreak

This project will study labor market outcomes and time use by US households during the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak. We are particularly interested in the effect of the outbreak on three interrelated areas. First, how did the outbreak impact labor marke...
Secondary Topic: Families & households
Lead investigator: Alexander Bick
Countries

The impact of Covid-19 on the lives of women in the garment industry: evidence from Ethiopia

In this project, we conduct high-frequency phone surveys on a panel of women who work in garment factories in Ethiopia’s largest industrial park in the city of Hawassa to document how their lives are changing during the Covid-19 crisis. Sampling fr...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Morgan Hardy
Countries

Economic impacts of Covid-19 lockdowns on vulnerable populations: evidence from Jordan

This project examines the economic impact of Covid-19 lockdown policies in Jordan. It focuses on the distributional impacts across different segments of society: the rich and poor, formal and informal workers, occupations, industries, women and refug...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Transport & infrastructure
Lead investigator: Michael Gechter
Countries

Analysis of websites regarding firms’ reactions to corona pandemic in Germany

We analyze websites of about 1.3 Mio. firms in Germany twice a week searching for the term Corona and synonyms of it. Since our first collection of data on March 19th, 2020, the share of firms mentioning the pandemic raised by two percentage points w...
Primary Topic: Business, big & small
Lead investigator: Peter Winker
Countries

Volatility shocks and investment behavior

We investigate how volatility shocks influence investments into a risky asset, perceptions about the asset’s risk, its future price/return development, and investor satisfaction. We run investment experiments mimicking volatility shocks with two su...
Lead investigator: Christoph Huber
Countries

Understanding behavioral barriers to demand for domestic violence services

Domestic violence (DV), defined as stalking, rape, or physical violence, is a global problem with 35% of women worldwide reporting experiencing DV (WHO 2017). More than 12 million people experience domestic violence in the U.S. each year (National DV...
Primary Topic: Crime & policing
Secondary Topic: Families & households
Lead investigator: Sofia Amaral
Countries