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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.

Early evidence of the impact of Covid-19 and the recession on older workers in the United States

We summarize the early effects, and anticipated future effects, of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting recession on older workers in the United States. We start by discussing what we know about how older workers faired in prior recessions in the Unit...
Primary Topic: Recession & recovery
Secondary Topic: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
Lead investigator: Patrick Button
Countries

Global evidence on the determinants of public trust in governments during the Covid-19

Using the Worldwide Covid-19 Attitudes and Beliefs dataset covering 108,918 respondents from 178 countries, the paper examines the determinants of public trust in governments during the Covid-19. It is found that older and healthy people trust more t...
Secondary Topic: Nations, regions & cities
Lead investigator: Giray Gozgor

The Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on inequality of opportunity in psychological distress in the UK

We use data from Wave 9 of UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS)and the April 2020 Wave of the UKHLS Covid-19 survey to compare measures of ex ante inequality of opportunity (IOp) in psychological distress, as measured by the General Health Questio...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Apostolos Davillas
Countries

The impact of emergency cash assistance during a pandemic: experimental evidence from Colombia

We evaluate the impact of cash relief for vulnerable households during a pandemic. On March 31, 2020, Colombia rolled out an unconditional cash transfer program to help low-income households deal with the economic consequences of the coronavirus pand...
Primary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Juliana Londoño-Vélez
Countries

The effect of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic on risk and time preferences

We elicit incentivized measures of risk and time preferences in a sample of undergraduate students in Athens, Greece. While the original purpose of the study was to elicit a battery of psychological, behavioral and economic measures and traits that c...
Lead investigator: Andreas C. Drichoutis
Countries

Pro-sociality predicts health behaviors during the Covid-19 pandemic

Socially responsible behavior is crucial for slowing the spread of infectious diseases. However, economic and epidemiological models of disease transmission abstract from prosocial motivations as a driver of behaviors that impact the health of others...
Secondary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Lead investigator: Pol Campos-Mercade
Countries

The impact of Covid-19 on us stock market: Fama-French models

The paper evaluates the performance of Fama-French models on US stock during Covid-19. All data used in constructed models have origination from Fama-French official website from 1st January 2000 to 31st March 2020. (Fama and French 2020). The result...
Primary Topic: Business, big & small
Secondary Topic: Prices & interest rates
Lead investigator: Dominik Horvath
Countries

The short run and long run effects of Covid-19 on children’s human capital and labor.

The Covid-19 crisis is likely to bring to the surface weaknesses in the education system of developing countries, with the poorest sections of the population being disproportionately adversely affected. With the social-distancing measures having clos...
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Samreen Malik
Countries

Covid-19 health messaging to underserved communities

In the US, recent statistics show that African American and Latinx communities bear a disproportionate burden from Covid-19. Reaching vulnerable and underserved populations is therefore crucial to combating the disease. However, most public messaging...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Lead investigator: Marcella Alsan
Countries

Accepting the mask, accepting the mosque? the effects of Covid-19 related face covering on prejudice towards religious veiling.

Using a large scale lab-in-the-field experimental setting, we study how the mitigation efforts for Covid-19 in the form of covering the face through masks affect the behavior and perception of subjects towards others. In particular, we study whether ...
Lead investigator: Samreen Malik
Countries

The effects of marketing inclusivity in the wake of Covid-19 on university matriculation

We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed at increasing application and matriculation rates among women (and underrepresented minority (URM) women) at California Polytechnic State University’s College of Business. RCT marketing address...
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Jacqueline Doremus
Countries

The health and wellbeing impacts of Covid-19 among rural households in Bangladesh

To curb the spread of the Covid-19 Bangladesh started a countrywide lockdown from late March 2020, which resulted in business closure and disruption of economic activities bringing the livelihood of millions of people, particularly those in the low-i...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Lead investigator: Asadul Islam
Countries

Perceived risk and wellbeing during the Covid-19 crisis in India

Covid-19 has paralyzed the world over the last few months and has sent millions into complete lockdown. Residents from developing countries such as India who suffer from widespread poverty and inequality and reside in regions with high population den...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Debayan Pakrashi
Countries

Covid-19 and educational inequality – evidence from Germany

In spring 2020, governments around the globe shut down schools to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. We conduct a large-scale survey in Germany to study parent-child time use during the educational shutdown. Focusing on differences across ...
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Elisabeth Grewenig
Countries

Disparate impacts of Covid-19 lockdowns in Pakistan affecting girls and rural
residents

In this article, we examine the feasibility of working and studying from home in Pakistan. We take advantage of the 2018–19 Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey, released only weeks ago. PSLM is a nationally representative...
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Syed Hasan
Countries

Covid-19 information and demand for protective gear in the UK

Amid the Covid-19 crisis in the UK, we study the demand and willingness to pay for hand sanitiser gel, disposable face masks and disposable gloves, and the role of information on tested people and Covid-19 deaths in explaining the demand and willingn...
Primary Topic: Business, big & small
Secondary Topic: Prices & interest rates
Lead investigator: Sonia Oreffice
Countries

The effect of social distancing on risk aversion, trust, and solidarity

The experiment investigates the causal effect of social distancing on behavioral traits that are important in interpersonal relationships. We exploit the different timing of stay-at-home orders issued during the Covid-19 outbreak as a natural experim...
Lead investigator: Antonio Filippin
Countries

The effects of covid on women: work, housework and financial decisions

The outbreak of Covid-19 has affected lives of hundreds of thousands of men and women throughout the world. In Italy, the impact has been more severe than in the rest of Europe. Women are severely hit by the choc, both on their jobs and in their fami...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Families & households
Lead investigator: Daniela Del Boca
Countries

Infectious diseases, social distancing and firm dynamics

In this project, we study the economic costs and trade-offs associated to the mitigation measures of social distancing intended to counteract the spread of an epidemic disease. To do so, we introduce the SIR model of epidemic progression in an otherw...
Primary Topic: Recession & recovery
Secondary Topic: Business, big & small
Lead investigator: Andrea Chiavari
Countries

Do stock markets play a role in determining the Covid-19 economic stimulus? A cross-country analysis

This paper makes an innovative contribution to the literature by analyzing the determinants of the Covid-19 economic stimulus. In particular, we explore whether the stock market fall observed due to the coronavirus pandemic in many countries around t...
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Sajid M. Chaudhry