Spatial Heterogeneity of COVID-19 Impacts on Urban Household Incomes: Between- and Within-City Evidence from Two African Countries

Yele Maweki Batana, Shohei Nakamura, Anirudh Venkatanarayan Rajashekar, Mervy Ever Viboudoulou Vilpoux and Christina Wieser

No 9762, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper examines spatial heterogeneity in the impacts of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic on urban household incomes in Ethiopia and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Combining new panel household surveys with spatial data, the fixed-effects regression analysis for Ethiopia finds that households in large and densely populated towns were more likely to lose their labor incomes in the early phase of the pandemic, and their recovery was slower than other households. Disadvantaged groups, such as female, low-skilled, self-employed, and poor, particularly suffered in those towns. In Kinshasa, labor income-mobility elasticities are higher among workers—particularly female and/or low-skilled workers—who live in areas that are located farther from the city core area or highly dense and precarious neighborhoods. The between- and within-city evidence from two Sub-Saharan African countries points to the spatial heterogeneity of COVID-19 impacts, implying the critical role of mobility and accessibility in urban agglomerations.

Keywords: Labor Markets; Employment and Unemployment; Transport Services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-08-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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