Restarting “Normal” Life after Covid-19 and the Lockdown: Evidence from Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy

Cristiano Codagnone, Francesco Bogliacino, Camilo Gómez Cangrejo, Frans Folkvord, Giovanni Liva, Rafael Charris, Felipe Montealegre (), Francisco Lupiañez Villanueva and Giuseppe A. Veltri
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Cristiano Codagnone: Università Degli Studi Di Milano
Frans Folkvord: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Giovanni Liva: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Rafael Charris: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Francisco Lupiañez Villanueva: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Giuseppe A. Veltri: Università Degli Studi Di Trento

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2021, vol. 158, issue 1, No 11, 265 pages

Abstract: Abstract In this article, we examine the expectations of the economic outlook, fear of the future, and behavioural change during the first Covid-19 wave, for three European countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy) that have been severely hit. We use a novel dataset that we collected to monitor the three countries during the crisis. As outcome variables, we used expectations (e.g., economic outlook, labour market situation, recovery), fear (e.g., scenario of new outburst, economic depression, restriction to individual rights and freedom), and behavioural change across the following dimensions: savings, cultural consumption, social capital, and risky behaviour. We provide descriptive evidence that is representative of the population of interest, and we estimate the impact of exposure to shock occurred during the crisis on the same outcome variables, using matching techniques. Our main findings are the following: we detected systematically negative expectations regarding the future and the recovery, majoritarian fears of an economic depression, a new outbreak, and a permanent restriction on freedom, a reduction in saving and in social capital. Exposure to shocks decreased expected job prospects, increased withdrawal from accumulated savings, and reduced contacts with the network relevant to job advancement, whereas it had inconclusive effects over fears.

Keywords: COVID-19; Fear; Expectation; Behavioural change; Negative economic shocks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D84 D90 D91 H12 I12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Working Paper: Restarting “normal” life after Covid-19 and the lockdown: Evidence from Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy (2020)
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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-021-02697-5

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