Current Research
List viewEconomists 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.
Pro-sociality, altruism, and physical distancing: cultural dimensions of resiliency to Covid-19 pandemic shock
Resiliency in the face of international threats such as climate change or pandemics requires coordination and, at least short-term, self-sacrifice. Related to this, nations differ in their propensities for individualism, altruism, and collectivism. I...
Primary Topic: Attitudes, media & governance
Lead investigator: Timothy MacNeill
Mapping the impact of Covid-19 on the distribution of youth-led businesses in Kenya
The Covid-19 pandemic is expected to impact economic activity in Kenya in many ways. Currently, there is a national curfew from 7 pm to 5 am with only essential services permitted to be open and extremely limited mobility. These conditions are likely...
Primary Topic: Business, big & small
Lead investigator: Julian Jamison
Countries
Heterogeneous vulnerability to the Covid-19 crisis in Japan
We study how the Covid-19 crisis could affect earnings inequality across heterogeneous individuals in Japan. We use the Employment Structure Basic Survey by Statistics Bureau of Japan to identify groups of workers who are more susceptible to the shoc...
Primary Topic: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Shinnosuke Kikuchi
Countries
Changes in higher order risk attitudes during a pandemic: the impact of rapid increases in health background risk on financial decisions
Individuals make economic decisions while being exposed to a multitude of risks that they cannot completely control: risks such as pandemics, chronic illnesses, income instability or environmental hazards. One of these risks is the current coronaviru...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Abdul H. Kidwai
Countries
Understanding the response to and recovery from the Covid-19 crisis among informal sector workers in urban India
In an ongoing randomized control trial, we study the impact of social networks on take-up of an aggregator service in Delhi, India that provides information on jobs, with subsequent implications on women and their spouses’ employment outcomes, inco...
Primary Topic: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
Secondary Topic: Attitudes, media & governance
Lead investigator: Farzana Afridi
Countries
The impact of Covid-19 on food and nutrition security in Bangladesh
The Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has created a major health and economic crisis globally. As of April 11th, there were almost 1.7 million confirmed cases and more than 100,000 reported deaths due to the virus. The first Covid-19 case was confirmed ...
Primary Topic: Families & households
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Akhter Ahmed
Countries
Inequality in the impact of the coronavirus shock: new survey evidence for the US
The briefing notes provide new evidence on inequalities in the economic impact of the Covid-19 downturn using survey data that the authors collected from a large representative sample of US workers on 24th March 2020. We find significant inequality i...
Primary Topic: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Abi Adams-Prassl
Countries
Constraints to female entrepreneurship in Pakistan: the role of women’s goals and aspirations
We are running a field experiment with female entrepreneurs who have all borrowed from a microfinance organization in Punjab, Pakistan. We test whether an intervention that exposes women to successful role models, and encourages goal setting, plannin...
Primary Topic: Business, big & small
Secondary Topic: Families & households
Lead investigator: Giovanna D'Adda
Countries
