Underestimating the Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Income Distribution in the U.S. and Brazil

IF 2.1 Q2 ECONOMICS
Federica Alfani, Fabio Clementi, Michele Fabiani, Vasco Molini, Francesco Schettino
{"title":"Underestimating the Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Income Distribution in the U.S. and Brazil","authors":"Federica Alfani, Fabio Clementi, Michele Fabiani, Vasco Molini, Francesco Schettino","doi":"10.3390/economies12090235","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed individuals to various risks, including job loss, income reduction, deteriorating well-being, and severe health complications and death. In Brazil and the U.S., as well as in other countries, the initial response to the pandemic was marked by governmental underestimation, leading to inadequate public health measures to curb the spread of the virus. Although progressively mitigated, this approach played a crucial role in the impacts on local populations. Therefore, the principal aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 and, indirectly, of the policies adopted by the U.S. and the Brazilian governments to prevent pandemic diffusion on income distribution. Utilizing available microdata and employing novel econometric methods (RIF-regression for inequality measures) this study shows that growth in COVID-19 prevalence significantly exacerbates economic disparities. Furthermore, the impact of COVID-19 on inequality has increased over time, suggesting that this negative impact has been intensifying. In the U.S., results indicate that working from home, the inability to work, and barriers to job-seeking significantly increase inequalities. Although further data are necessary to validate the hypothesis, this preliminary evidence suggests that the pandemic has significantly contributed to increased inequality in these two countries already characterized by increasing polarization and significant social disparities.","PeriodicalId":52214,"journal":{"name":"Economies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Economies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12090235","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed individuals to various risks, including job loss, income reduction, deteriorating well-being, and severe health complications and death. In Brazil and the U.S., as well as in other countries, the initial response to the pandemic was marked by governmental underestimation, leading to inadequate public health measures to curb the spread of the virus. Although progressively mitigated, this approach played a crucial role in the impacts on local populations. Therefore, the principal aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 and, indirectly, of the policies adopted by the U.S. and the Brazilian governments to prevent pandemic diffusion on income distribution. Utilizing available microdata and employing novel econometric methods (RIF-regression for inequality measures) this study shows that growth in COVID-19 prevalence significantly exacerbates economic disparities. Furthermore, the impact of COVID-19 on inequality has increased over time, suggesting that this negative impact has been intensifying. In the U.S., results indicate that working from home, the inability to work, and barriers to job-seeking significantly increase inequalities. Although further data are necessary to validate the hypothesis, this preliminary evidence suggests that the pandemic has significantly contributed to increased inequality in these two countries already characterized by increasing polarization and significant social disparities.
低估流行病:COVID-19 对美国和巴西收入分配的影响
COVID-19 大流行使个人面临各种风险,包括失业、收入减少、福利恶化以及严重的健康并发症和死亡。在巴西和美国以及其他国家,政府在最初应对大流行病时估计不足,导致公共卫生措施不足以遏制病毒的传播。这种做法虽然逐渐得到缓解,但对当地居民的影响起到了至关重要的作用。因此,本文的主要目的是评估 COVID-19 的影响,并间接评估美国和巴西政府为防止大流行病扩散而采取的政策对收入分配的影响。本研究利用现有的微观数据,采用新颖的计量经济学方法(不平等度量的 RIF 回归),表明 COVID-19 感染率的增长显著加剧了经济差距。此外,随着时间的推移,COVID-19 对不平等的影响也在增加,这表明这种负面影响一直在加剧。在美国,研究结果表明,在家工作、无法工作以及求职障碍大大加剧了不平等。尽管还需要更多的数据来验证这一假设,但这些初步证据表明,在这两个本已两极分化日益加剧、社会差距显著的国家,大流行病极大地加剧了不平等现象。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Economies
Economies Economics, Econometrics and Finance-Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)
CiteScore
4.00
自引率
11.50%
发文量
271
审稿时长
11 weeks
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信