Heterogeneity in Damages from A Pandemic / Amy Finkelstein, Geoffrey Kocks, Maria Polyakova, Victoria Udalova.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Finkelstein, Amy.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Kocks, Geoffrey.

Polyakova, Maria.

Udalova, Victoria.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30658.

NBER working paper series no. w30658

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

We use linked survey and administrative data to document and decompose the striking differences across demographic groups in both economic and health impacts of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The impacts of the pandemic on all-cause mortality and on employment were concentrated in the same racial, ethnic, and education groups, with non-White individuals and those without a college degree experiencing higher excess all-cause mortality as well as a greater employment loss. Observable differences in living arrangements and the nature of work - which likely affected exposure to the virus and to economic contractions - can explain 15 percent of the Hispanic-White difference in excess mortality, almost one-quarter of the non- Hispanic Black-White difference, and almost half of the difference between those with and without a Bachelor's degree; they can also explain 35 to 40 percent of the differences in economic damages between these groups. These findings underscore the importance of non-medical factors in contributing to the disparate impacts of public health shocks.

Notes:

Print version record

November 2022.