Current Research
List viewEconomists from around the world are using real time data collection to better understand the impact the Covid-19 crisis is having on families, workers, firms and society, and how policies can help the recovery out of the crisis. Find out more about how these research teams are carrying out their projects, and what their findings are below.
Using phone surveys to assess the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the delivery of health and nutrition services in rural Ethiopia
This study assesses the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the delivery of health and nutrition services in rural Ethiopia using a phone survey. This three-wave survey will illuminate disruptions to healthcare delivery and adoption of precautionary ...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
Lead investigator: Guush Berhane
Countries
Conflict in Africa during Covid-19: social distancing, food vulnerability and welfare response
We study the effect of social distancing, food vulnerability, welfare and labour Covid-19 policy responses on riots, violence against civilians and food-related conflicts. Our analysis uses georeferenced data for 24 African countries with monthly loc...
Primary Topic: Crime & policing
Secondary Topic: Prices & interest rates
Lead investigator: Roxana Gutiérrez-Romero
Assessing impacts on and resilience to food insecurity amid the Covid-19 lockdowns in Nigeria
As of the end of May 2020, there have been over 9000 cases and over 260 deaths from Covid-19 in Nigeria and cases have been rising quickly in recent weeks. To prevent the spread of the virus, governments in multiple states have imposed lockdowns. Whi...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Elena M Martinez
Countries
Managing the Covid-19 pandemic in poor urban neighbourhoods: the case of Ghana and South Africa
The novel Coronavirus, Covid-19, and measures to combat it are expected to have a significant impact on the physical and mental well being of all people, but especially those living in poor urban neighbourhoods. We are conducting a panel phone survey...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Families & households
Lead investigator: Isabel Gunther
Countries
Poverty and Covid-19 in developing countries
In March 2020, shelter-in-place and social-distancing policies have been enforced or recommended all over the world to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. However, strict containment is hardly achievable in low-income countries, as large parts of population...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Olivier Bargain
Community health care and Covid-19 pandemic: experimental evidence from Uganda
The limited capacity of the health systems in many low-income countries, especially in rural areas, suggests that the rapid spreading of the Covid-19 virus could have huge consequences in those areas. On top of the direct impact of the virus, a growi...
Primary Topic: Attitudes, media & governance
Secondary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Lead investigator: Martina Bjorkman-Nyqvist
Countries
Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on economic outcomes and well-being of rural communities in western Uganda
We use high-frequency phone surveys to dynamically track the impact of covid19 over a 3-month period. We already have baseline data on a sample of 1,250 households randomly selected from rural villages in Western Uganda. These baseline surveys were c...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Mahreen Mahmud
Countries
Listening to young lives at work: impact of the global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on young people in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam
The survey aims to answer questions about impact of the pandemic, policies to contain the spread of the virus, and the subsequent economic slowdown in four developing countries. Building on almost twenty years of the project, the survey will examine ...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
Lead investigator: Marta Favara
The impact of cash in a crisis: evidence from Dandora, Kenya during and after Covid-19
This study will deliver cash grants to microenterprise owners run by women in Dandora, Kenya during the Covid-19 outbreak. We will use a randomized controlled trial to study the impact of cash on economic outcomes both during and after the crisis. Al...
Primary Topic: Attitudes, media & governance
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Wyatt Brooks
Countries
The impact of Covid-19 on the lives of women in the garment industry: evidence from Ethiopia
In this project, we conduct high-frequency phone surveys on a panel of women who work in garment factories in Ethiopia’s largest industrial park in the city of Hawassa to document how their lives are changing during the Covid-19 crisis. Sampling fr...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Morgan Hardy
Countries
Evolution of atemporal and intertemporal risk preferences, time preferences, and subjective beliefs about prevalence and mortality of Covid-19 during the course of the global crisis: an incentivised experiment with American and South African samples
Policies adopted by most countries in 2020 for suppressing transmission of the novel coronavirus and of illness and mortality due to Covid-19 depend on compliance with mandated drastic and costly risk control measures by the general public. While res...
Lead investigator: Glenn W. Harrison
Countries
A cross country analyses of sentiments and emotions, before and after Covid-19, using big data
The main aim of this project is to analyse and compare sentiment and emotions of people in three countries, before and after the introduction of regulations to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The uniqueness in the choice of the countries lies...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Lead investigator: Talita Greyling
Countries
Using weekly financial and health diaries to track health and income effects of the Covid-19 outbreak and government response measures in rural Kenya
While the current number of Covid-19 cases is relatively limited in Kenya, the anticipation of Covid-19 arrives much earlier than any exponential growth of infections, and so do the measures in response to it. Even in the absence of Covid-19 cases, t...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Wendy Janssens
Countries
Food and nutrition security in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during Covid‑19 pandemic
On March 13th, the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in Ethiopia. Three days later, the government closed schools, banned all public gatherings and sporting activities, and recommended social distancing. Other measures to contain the spread of the vi...
Primary Topic: Families & households
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Kalle Hirvonen
Countries
Do cash transfers help sustain economic and psychological well-being in times of crisis – experimental evidence from Uganda
We evaluate the impact of cash grants offered to a random sample of rural households in Uganda on their economic and psychological well-being during the COVID19 crisis. The cash grants were provided shortly before the Government of Uganda ordered a n...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Families & households
Lead investigator: Kjetil Bjorvatn
Countries
Resilience to economic shocks through continued electricity access
As Covid-19 spreads, access to reliable electricity will be critical in allowing households and firms to continue productive activities, keep their phones charged, and stay up-to-date on public health guidelines. Government restrictions that are need...
Primary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Secondary Topic: Recession & recovery
Lead investigator: Catherine Wolfram
Staying close when apart: the value of “information communication” during Covid-19 pandemics
Information-sharing and communication are key features of pandemics. In particular, people share information about the outbreaks, communicate with family and friends—be it either for support or not, including employers—be it formal and informal e...
Primary Topic: Health, physical & mental
Secondary Topic: Inequality & poverty
Lead investigator: Francis Annan
Countries
Mapping the impact of Covid-19 on the distribution of youth-led businesses in Kenya
The Covid-19 pandemic is expected to impact economic activity in Kenya in many ways. Currently, there is a national curfew from 7 pm to 5 am with only essential services permitted to be open and extremely limited mobility. These conditions are likely...
Primary Topic: Business, big & small
Lead investigator: Julian Jamison
Countries
