10.5281/zenodo.5196307
https://zenodo.org/records/5196307
oai:zenodo.org:5196307
Markus Heemann
Markus Heemann
University of Goettingen
Utz Johann Pape
Utz Johann Pape
0000-0002-1802-6810
World Bank Group
Dennis Egger
Dennis Egger
0000-0001-7001-1571
Unsiversity of California Berkeley
Sebastian Vollmer
Sebastian Vollmer
0000-0002-7863-0462
University of Goettingen
The labor market implications of restricted mobility during the Covid-19 pandemic in Kenya: Evidence from nationally representative phone surveys in Kenya.
Zenodo
2021
Causal Impact Mobility; Labor Market; Covid-19, IV estimation
2021-08-13
10.5281/zenodo.5196306
https://zenodo.org/communities/dfp17
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
We use an instrumental variable approach to identify the causal impacts of mobility reduction induced by policy changes on labor market outcomes. We find that a 10% recovery of mobility leads to an 11% increase of labor force participation and an increase of 7% of household members being employed. At the same time, a 10% recovery of mobility causes an increase of 12 wage hours per week (formal and informal) with wage hours in urban areas increasing 3.2 hours per week. Among the factors influencing self-reported mobility and, thus, nationwide mobility levels, the trust in the government’s ability to deal with the pandemic correlates with more self-reported mobility, while employed individuals tend to restrict mobility more. Finally, country wide policy stringency levels clearly reduce self-reported mobility. Given the demonstrated adverse impacts of a lockdown on important economic indicators, Governments need to explore options to limit the economic fall-out while protecting citizens from infections, e.g. by using partial or geographically constrained lockdowns.