Summary:  

Across the globe, individual nations had differing policy approaches to pandemic-induced “lockdowns”, which varied in stringency, duration, and phases. The lockdowns resulted in widespread shifts in socio-economic norms, which subsequently provides many fascinating points of research for economists, data scientists, and policy experts. This week’s chart presents the idiosyncratic timing of lockdowns (workplace closures) against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. China and Italy, for instance, had the earliest lockdowns, while Japan, Sweden, and Taiwan are notable economies with no statewide lockdown. This timing provides variation for experiments in the real world, as outlined below.   

Highlights:  

We highlight a selection of topics and examples, with links embedded to ACI and external research. 

• Effect of lockdown on economic outcomes and local pandemic severity. 
• Identifying and studying the movement of essential workers, whose mobility are least affected.  
• Safe distancing compliance by poverty rates and partisanship.  
• Effect of working from home on work.   
• Others: crime, pollution, domestic abuse, mental health, energy use. 

Article By SHEN Yan Shun, Lucas 

Graphic By Shu En LEE