Determinants of Social Distancing and Economic Activity during COVID-19 : A Global View
The paper uses Google mobility data to identify the determinants of social distancing during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. The findings for the United States indicate that much of the decrease in mobility is voluntary, driven by the number of COVID-1...
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/325021589288466494/Determinants-of-Social-Distancing-and-Economic-Activity-during-COVID-19-A-Global-View http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33754 |
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okr-10986-337542022-09-20T00:11:21Z Determinants of Social Distancing and Economic Activity during COVID-19 : A Global View Maloney, William Taskin, Temel COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RESPONSE SOCIAL DISTANCING MOBILITY ECONOMIC CRISIS GOOGLE MOBILITY DATA LIVELIHOODS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY VOLUNTARY DE-MOBILIZATION RISK AVERSION The paper uses Google mobility data to identify the determinants of social distancing during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. The findings for the United States indicate that much of the decrease in mobility is voluntary, driven by the number of COVID-19 cases and proxying for greater awareness of risk. Non-pharmaceutical interventions such as closing nonessential businesses, sheltering in place, and school closings are also effective, although with a total contribution dwarfed by the voluntary actions. This suggests that much social distancing will happen regardless of the presence of non-pharmaceutical interventions and that restrictions may often function more like a coordinating device among increasingly predisposed individuals than repressive measures per se. These results are consistent across country income groups, with only the poorest countries showing limited effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions and no voluntary component, consistent with resistance to abandon sources of livelihood. The paper also confirms the direct impact of the voluntary component on economic activity, by showing that the majority of the fall in restaurant reservations in the United States and movie spending in Sweden occurred before the imposition of any non-pharmaceutical interventions. Widespread voluntary de-mobilization implies that releasing constraints may not yield a V-shaped recovery if the reduction in COVID risk is not credible. 2020-05-14T20:49:38Z 2020-05-14T20:49:38Z 2020-05 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/325021589288466494/Determinants-of-Social-Distancing-and-Economic-Activity-during-COVID-19-A-Global-View http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33754 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9242 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
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Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RESPONSE SOCIAL DISTANCING MOBILITY ECONOMIC CRISIS GOOGLE MOBILITY DATA LIVELIHOODS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY VOLUNTARY DE-MOBILIZATION RISK AVERSION |
| spellingShingle |
COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RESPONSE SOCIAL DISTANCING MOBILITY ECONOMIC CRISIS GOOGLE MOBILITY DATA LIVELIHOODS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY VOLUNTARY DE-MOBILIZATION RISK AVERSION Maloney, William Taskin, Temel Determinants of Social Distancing and Economic Activity during COVID-19 : A Global View |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9242 |
| description |
The paper uses Google mobility data to
identify the determinants of social distancing during the
2020 COVID-19 outbreak. The findings for the United States
indicate that much of the decrease in mobility is voluntary,
driven by the number of COVID-19 cases and proxying for
greater awareness of risk. Non-pharmaceutical interventions
such as closing nonessential businesses, sheltering in
place, and school closings are also effective, although with
a total contribution dwarfed by the voluntary actions. This
suggests that much social distancing will happen regardless
of the presence of non-pharmaceutical interventions and that
restrictions may often function more like a coordinating
device among increasingly predisposed individuals than
repressive measures per se. These results are consistent
across country income groups, with only the poorest
countries showing limited effect of non-pharmaceutical
interventions and no voluntary component, consistent with
resistance to abandon sources of livelihood. The paper also
confirms the direct impact of the voluntary component on
economic activity, by showing that the majority of the fall
in restaurant reservations in the United States and movie
spending in Sweden occurred before the imposition of any
non-pharmaceutical interventions. Widespread voluntary
de-mobilization implies that releasing constraints may not
yield a V-shaped recovery if the reduction in COVID risk is
not credible. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Maloney, William Taskin, Temel |
| author_facet |
Maloney, William Taskin, Temel |
| author_sort |
Maloney, William |
| title |
Determinants of Social Distancing and Economic Activity during COVID-19 : A Global View |
| title_short |
Determinants of Social Distancing and Economic Activity during COVID-19 : A Global View |
| title_full |
Determinants of Social Distancing and Economic Activity during COVID-19 : A Global View |
| title_fullStr |
Determinants of Social Distancing and Economic Activity during COVID-19 : A Global View |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Determinants of Social Distancing and Economic Activity during COVID-19 : A Global View |
| title_sort |
determinants of social distancing and economic activity during covid-19 : a global view |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/325021589288466494/Determinants-of-Social-Distancing-and-Economic-Activity-during-COVID-19-A-Global-View http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33754 |
| _version_ |
1764479447104225280 |