Slums and pandemics

Luiz Brotherhood, Tiago Cavalcanti, Daniel Da Mata and Cezar Santos

Journal of Development Economics, 2022, vol. 157, issue C

Abstract: How do slums shape the economic and health dynamics of pandemics? A difference-in-differences analysis using millions of mobile phones in Brazil shows that residents of overcrowded slums engaged in less social distancing after the outbreak of Covid-19. We develop and calibrate a choice-theoretic equilibrium model in which individuals are heterogeneous in income and some people live in high-density slums. Slum residents account for a disproportionately high number of infections and deaths and, without slums, deaths increase in non-slum neighborhoods. Policy analysis of reallocation of medical resources, lockdowns and cash transfers produce heterogeneous effects across groups. Policy simulations indicate that: reallocating medical resources cuts deaths and raises output and the welfare of both groups; mild lockdowns favor slum individuals by mitigating the demand for hospital beds, whereas strict confinements mostly delay the evolution of the pandemic; and cash transfers benefit slum residents to the detriment of others, highlighting important distributional effects.

Keywords: Covid-19; Slums; Health; Social distancing; Public policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C63 D62 E17 I10 I18 O18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Slums and Pandemics (2020)
Working Paper: Slums and Pandemics (2020)
Working Paper: Slums and Pandemics (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:157:y:2022:i:c:s0304387822000499

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102882

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