Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17104
Authors: Francesco Fasani; Michele Di Maio; Valerio Leone Sciabolazza; Vasco Molini
Abstract: We use novel survey data to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Libya. Our analysis compares the effects of the pandemic for displaced and non-displaced citizens, controlling for individual and household characteristics and geo-localized measures of economic activity and conflict intensity. In our sample, 9.5% of respondents report that a household member has been infected by COVID-19, while 24.7% of them have suffered economic damages and 14.6% have experienced negative health effects due to the pandemic. IDPs do not display higher incidence of COVID-19 relative to comparable non-displaced individuals, but are about 60% more likely to report negative economic and health impacts caused by the pandemic. We provide suggestive evidence that the larger damages suffered by IDPs can be explained by their weaker economic status - which leads to more food insecurity and indebtedness - and by the discrimination they face in accessing health care.
Keywords: internally displaced persons; COVID-19; health; forced migration; conflict; Libyan civil war
JEL Codes: F22; J61; K37
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| IDPs' weaker economic status (O15) | negative economic and health impacts (I14) |
| negative economic and health impacts (I14) | food insecurity (I32) |
| negative economic and health impacts (I14) | indebtedness (F34) |
| IDPs (O19) | negative economic and health impacts (I14) |
| discrimination in healthcare access (I14) | negative economic and health impacts (I14) |
| COVID-19 pandemic (H12) | negative economic and health impacts (I14) |