
22 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
Filter by...
Background Note
COVID-19 and socioeconomic impact in AsiaSeveral countries have enacted lockdown measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect their health systems and reduce the number of mortalities. One of the most extreme national lockdown measures has been taken by the government of India...
Blog
The five criteria low income countries must have in place for lockdowns to workAs the COVID-19 virus has spread across the globe, developing countries are starting to enact many of the same policies used in China, Europe, and...
Journal Article
The labour market impact of COVID-19 lockdownsIn this study, we provide causal evidence of the immediate and near-term impact of stringent COVID-19 lockdown policies on employment outcomes, using Ghana as a case study. We take advantage of a specific policy setting, in which strict stay-at-home...
Working Paper
Physical proximity and occupational employment change by gender during the COVID-19 pandemicPrevious economic downturns such as the 2008–09 Global Financial Crisis disproportionately affected male employment due to greater contractions in industries typically filled by men (e.g., manufacturing). However, after the imposition of the ‘hard’...
Working Paper
The pandemic and the stateCOVID-19 has brought to the fore the issue of state preparedness in mitigating health emergencies. This paper problematizes the received wisdom of greater state capacity in mitigating the severity of the pandemic. Based on a case study of West Bengal...
Working Paper
Impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns and aid packagesIn view of the detrimental effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on household welfare, most countries implemented economic stimulus aid packages to support households. The extent to which these packages mitigated the pandemic’s adverse effects on households...
Journal Article
Africa’s lockdown dilemmaTHIS ARTICLE IS ON EARLY VIEW | As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, sub-Saharan African countries faced the dilemma of how to minimize viral transmission without adversely affecting the poor. This study proposes an index of lockdown readiness, taking...
Journal Article
The livelihood impacts of COVID-19 in urban South AfricaThis paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related policy measures on livelihoods in urban South Africa. Using qualitative research methods, we analyse two rounds of semi-structured phone interviews, conducted between June and...
Working Paper
Do pandemics lead to rebellion? Policy responses to COVID-19, inequality, and protests in the USAThis paper analyses how inequality across counties in the United States of America has shaped the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of protests. The empirical analysis combines weekly data between January and December 2020 on levels of...
Blog
Ghana's lockdown hit vulnerable workers hard: What needs to happen next timeCoronavirus lockdowns brought the world to a standstill. Rules on hygiene and social distancing have reshaped daily life, schools and businesses had...
Working Paper
The role of trust and of poverty in compliance with social distancing measures in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemicSince it began, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a number of challenges on Africa and the rest of the world. Following the recommendations of the World Health Organization, many countries imposed social distancing measures and cancelled non...
Working Paper
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the poorIn this paper, we examine the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of the poor. We use an unusually rich data set from a ‘financial diaries’ study known as the Hrishipara Daily Diaries Project. The data set tracks the economic...
Working Paper
The livelihood impacts of COVID-19 in urban South AfricaThis paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related policy measures on livelihoods in urban South Africa. Using qualitative research methods, we analyse two rounds of semi-structured phone interviews, conducted between June and...
Working Paper
Dynamic impacts of lockdown on domestic violenceWe leverage staggered implementation of lockdown across Chile’s 346 municipalities, identifying dynamic impacts on domestic violence. Using administrative data, we find lockdown imposition increases indicators of distress related to domestic violence...
Working Paper
The labour market impact of COVID-19 lockdownsIn this paper, we provide causal evidence of the impact of stringent lockdown policies on labour market outcomes at both the extensive and intensive margins, using Ghana as a case study. We take advantage of a specific policy setting, in which strict...
Working Paper
Horizontal inequality, COVID-19, and lockdown readinessA growing body of research shows that COVID-19 both reflects and exacerbates existing inequalities. However, there are significant gaps in this research area with respect to ‘horizontal’ or group-based inequalities in Global South countries. Lack of...