Inequality and Social Distancing during the Pandemic / Caitlin S. Brown, Martin Ravallion.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, Caitlin S.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Ravallion, Martin.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30540.

NBER working paper series no. w30540

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

We study how pre-pandemic inequalities in America influenced social distancing over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Richer counties tended to see more protective mobility responses in the initial (pre-pharmaceutical) phase, but less protective responses later. Near linearity of this income effect implies that inequality between counties contributed very little to overall mobility reductions. By contrast, higher within-county inequality and/or poverty measures came with substantially larger attenuations to non-residential mobility at given average incomes. There were also significant effects of the county's racial and age composition. Standard epidemiological covariates of contact rates were also relevant, controlling for the socioeconomic factors.

Notes:

Print version record

October 2022.