Working Paper: NBER ID: w27407
Authors: John McLaren
Abstract: This note seeks the socioeconomic roots of racial disparities in COVID-19 mortality, using county-level mortality, economic, and demographic data from 3,140 counties. For all minorities, the minority's population share is strongly correlated with total COVID-19 deaths. For Hispanic/Latino and Asian minorities those correlations are fragile, and largely disappear when we control for education, occupation, and commuting patterns. For African Americans and First Nations populations, the correlations are very robust. Surprisingly, for these two groups the racial disparity does not seem to be due to differences in income, poverty rates, education, occupational mix, or even access to healthcare insurance. A significant portion of the disparity can, however, be sourced to the use of public transit.
Keywords: COVID-19; racial disparities; mortality; socioeconomic factors; public transit
JEL Codes: I14; J15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Minority Population Share (J15) | COVID-19 Deaths (Y10) |
| Socioeconomic Factors (P36) | Racial Disparity (J15) |
| Public Transit Use (L91) | COVID-19 Deaths (Y10) |
| Minority Population Share (J15) | Racial Disparity (J15) |
| Racial Disparity (J15) | COVID-19 Deaths (Y10) |