ABSTRACT

COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in the largest number of lockdowns worldwide in history. While lockdowns may reduce the spread of COVID-19, the downside costs of this approach could be dreadful. By exploiting the differential timing of lockdown implementation across the United States within a difference-in-differences framework, we find that the pandemic lockdowns are associated with a variety of adverse psychological outcomes, namely, anxiety, worry, disinterest, depression, and poor general health perception. Our mechanism analyses suggest that these detrimental impacts could be attributed to concerns towards food, housing, and employment security. We further show that African Americans and women are especially susceptible to the adverse repercussions of the lockdowns. The findings imply that lockdowns should be accompanied by policies aimed to prevent mental health burden and deepening inequality.

摘要

COVID-19爆发导致有史以来全球最大数量的封锁事件。虽然锁定可能会减少COVID-19的传播，但是这种方法的缺点是可能令人恐惧。通过在全美差异框架内利用全美范围内实施锁定的时间差异，我们发现大流行锁定与各种不良心理后果相关，即焦虑，忧虑，无兴趣，沮丧和一般不良健康感。我们的机制分析表明，这些有害影响可能归因于对粮食，住房和就业保障的关注。我们进一步表明，非洲裔美国人和妇女特别容易受到封锁的不利影响。