Economic Impacts of the COVID−19 Lockdown in a Remittance‐Dependent Region

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dc.contributor.authorGupta, Anubhaben
dc.contributor.authorZhu, Hengen
dc.contributor.authorDoan, Miki Khanhen
dc.contributor.authorMichuda, Aleksandren
dc.contributor.authorMajumder, Binoyen
dc.contributor.departmentAgricultural and Applied Economicsen
dc.coverage.countryIndiaen
dc.date.accessioned2020-12-31T02:20:36Zen
dc.date.available2020-12-31T02:20:36Zen
dc.date.issued2020en
dc.date.updated2020-12-31T02:20:33Zen
dc.description.abstractThe economic impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on poor and vulnerable households living in rural areas of developing countries are not well understood due to a lack of detailed micro-survey data at the household level. Utilizing weekly financial transaction data collected from households residing in a rural region of India, we estimate the impacts of India’s COVID-19 lockdown on household income, food security, welfare, and access to local loan markets. A large portion of households living in our study region is reliant on remittances from migrants to sustain their livelihoods. Our analysis reveals that in the month immediately after India’s lockdown announcement, weekly household local income fell by INR 1,022 (US$ 13.5), an 88% drop compared to the long-term average with another 63% reduction in remittance. In response to the massive loss in earnings, households substantially reduced meal portions and consumed fewer food items. Impacts were heterogeneous; households in lower income quantiles lost a higher percentage of their income and expenditures, but government food aid slightly mitigated the negative impacts. We also find an increase in the effective interest rate of local borrowing in cash and a higher demand for in-kind loans, which are likely to have an adverse effect on households who rely on such services. The results from this paper have immediate relevance to policymakers considering additional lockdowns as the COVID-19 pandemic resurges around the globe and to governments thinking about responses to future pandemics that may occur.en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifierajae.12178 (Article number)en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12178en
dc.identifier.eissn1467-8276en
dc.identifier.issn0002-9092en
dc.identifier.orcidGupta, Anubhab [0000-0002-1346-1880]en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/101681en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherWileyen
dc.rightsIn Copyright (InC)en
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectAgricultural Economics & Policyen
dc.subject1402 Applied Economicsen
dc.subjectCOVID-19en
dc.subjectfinancial diariesen
dc.subjectlockdownen
dc.subjectmigrationen
dc.subjectpovertyen
dc.subjectremittancesen
dc.titleEconomic Impacts of the COVID−19 Lockdown in a Remittance‐Dependent Regionen
dc.title.serialAmerican Journal of Agricultural Economicsen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.otherArticleen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/All T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/Agricultural & Applied Economicsen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/CALS T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Techen

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