Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15592
Authors: Francesca Caselli; Francesco Grigoli; Damiano Sandri; Antonio Spilimbergo
Abstract: Overall mobility declined during the COVID-19 pandemic because of government lockdowns and voluntary social distancing. Yet, aggregate data mask important heterogeneous effects across segments of the population. Using unique mobility indicators based on anonymized and aggregate data provided by Vodafone for Italy, Portugal, and Spain, we find that lockdowns had a larger impact on the mobility of women and younger cohorts. Younger people also experienced a sharper drop in mobility in response to rising COVID-19 infections. Our findings, which are consistent across estimation methods and robust to a variety of tests, warn about a possible widening of gender and inter-generational inequality.
Keywords: COVID-19; Lockdown; Mobility; Gender; Age
JEL Codes: E1; I1; H0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| COVID-19 cases (Y10) | reduction in mobility (J62) |
| lockdowns (H76) | reduction in mobility (J62) |
| lockdowns (H76) | reduction in mobility for women (J62) |
| lockdowns (H76) | reduction in mobility for men (J62) |
| lockdowns (H76) | reduction in mobility for younger individuals (ages 18-24) (J62) |
| lockdowns (H76) | reduction in mobility for older individuals (ages 65 and above) (J62) |