Consumer mobility and expenditure during the COVID-19 containments: Evidence from French transaction data

David Bounie, Youssouf Camara and John W. Galbraith

European Economic Review, 2023, vol. 151, issue C

Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of the pandemic containment periods in France on individuals’ movements, expenditure and adaptation to the shock, using billions of French bank card transactions measured before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measure not only the effect on consumer expenditure, but also on quantities directly related to the containment restrictions, such as consumer mobility, number of retailers visited, and inter-regional purchases. The results show large effects on these measures of consumers’ movements, as well as on both online and offline measures of expenditure, particularly in the first containment period. We also find evidence that consumers adjusted rapidly during the first containment period, mitigating the effects of mobility restrictions via an increasing shift toward online purchasing, and that the nature of the adaptation differed for different types of purchase.

Keywords: COVID-19; Consumer mobility; Consumption expenditure; Containment policy; Inter-regional trade; Transaction data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E21 E61 E62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:151:y:2023:i:c:s0014292122002069

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104326

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