Open AccessClosed for business: The mortality impact of business closures during the Covid-19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Dion Bongaerts,
Francesco Mazzola,
Wolf Wagner
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0251373
Subject(s) - covid-19 , shut down , pandemic , business , demographic economics , economics , disease , virology , biology , medicine , engineering , infectious disease (medical specialty) , nuclear engineering , outbreak
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.