The Economic Impact of Covid-19 and Associated Lockdown Measures in China

Charpe, Matthieu (2022): The Economic Impact of Covid-19 and Associated Lockdown Measures in China.

Abstract

This paper assesses at the local level the economic impact of Covid-19 and associated lockdown measures in China using high frequency nighttime lights data. Building a model of monthly light intensity, lights dropped by a factor ranging between 13 and 18 percent in early 2020. This corresponds to a decline in economic activity of between 9 and 12 percent and a decline in employment of between 2.6 and 3.6 percent. At the local level, the majority of administrative entities followed a v-shaped recovery, while a smaller number followed a u-shaped recovery or a double dip. At province level, light intensity is explained by the number of cases and a lockdown measure. In particular, the increase in stringency index from 0 in December 2019 to 78 in April 2002 explains a decline in lights by 7.4 percent.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Covid-19, lockdown, China, nighttime lights, big data
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O18 - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis ; Housing ; Infrastructure; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R12 - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity

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