DP14814 Closed for business
Author(s): | Dion Bongaerts, Francesco Mazzola, Wolf Wagner |
Publication Date: | May 2020 |
Keyword(s): | business shutdown, coordination, COVID-19, Pandemic |
JEL(s): | H12, I18 |
Programme Areas: | Public Economics |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=14814 |
We investigate the effectiveness of business shutdowns to contain the Covid-19 disease. In March 2020, Italy shut down operations in a number of sectors. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find that municipalities with higher exposure to closed sectors experience subsequently lower mortality rates. We estimate the resulting life savings to exceed 12.000 people over less than a month. Using estimates of remaining life-years, this translates into monetary benefits of 12 billion Euros We also show that business shutdowns exhibit rapidly diminishing returns and have effects outside the closed sectors and in other municipalities. This suggests that effective containment policies require central coordination.