TY - JOUR
T1 - Closed for business
T2 - The mortality impact of business closures during the Covid-19 pandemic
AU - Bongaerts, Dion
AU - Mazzola, Francesco
AU - Wagner, Wolf
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Bongaerts et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021/5/14
Y1 - 2021/5/14
N2 - We investigate the effectiveness of business shutdowns to contain the Covid-19 disease. In March 2020, Italy shut down operations in selected sectors of its economy. Using a difference- in-differences approach, we find that municipalities with higher exposure to closed sectors experienced subsequently lower mortality rates. The implied life savings exceed 9,400 people over a period of less than a month. We also find that business closures exhibited rapidly diminishing returns and had large effects outside the closed businesses themselves, including spillovers to other municipalities. Overall, the results suggest business shutdowns are effective, but should be selectively implemented and centrally coordinated.
AB - We investigate the effectiveness of business shutdowns to contain the Covid-19 disease. In March 2020, Italy shut down operations in selected sectors of its economy. Using a difference- in-differences approach, we find that municipalities with higher exposure to closed sectors experienced subsequently lower mortality rates. The implied life savings exceed 9,400 people over a period of less than a month. We also find that business closures exhibited rapidly diminishing returns and had large effects outside the closed businesses themselves, including spillovers to other municipalities. Overall, the results suggest business shutdowns are effective, but should be selectively implemented and centrally coordinated.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105959943&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0251373
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0251373
M3 - Article
C2 - 33989322
AN - SCOPUS:85105959943
VL - 16
SP - e0251373
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 5
M1 - e0251373
ER -