Articles

  • The Spread of COVID-19 in Belgium: a Municipality-Level Analysis

    In this contribution I analyse socio-economic and demographic correlates of the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic across Belgian municipalities. I am interested in the onset of the epidemic, its intensity early on as well as the growth of contaminations in April.

  • COVID-19 Pandemic and Pollution: Evidence from Belgium and France
    • ARTICLES
    • Jun 29, 2020
    • -
    • I. Natali and S. Amaral-Garcia

    The outbreak of COVID-19, which is the most serious public health crisis in decades, is bringing complex challenges worldwide. Fighting this pandemic requires a better understanding of the so-called ‘risk factors’ associated with the spread of the virus. Identifying the driving forces favoring the diffusion of the virus is a topic of primary importance, not only to contain the rapid spread of the current pandemic, but also to prevent the occurrence of future pandemics.

  • Covid-19 and the Role of Economic Conditions in French Regional Departments
    • ARTICLES
    • May 29, 2020
    • -
    • V. Ginsburgh , G. Magerman and I. Natali

    The recent outbreak of Covid-19 has infected the world at an incredible speed. While there are many similarities across countries in terms of the characteristics of the epidemic spread, there are also large differences across regions. In this paper, we examine regional variation in the outbreak across continental France. We use information on the number of deaths and discharged patients from Covid-19 and socio-economic variables at the department level. Controlling for other factors, we corroborate existing evidence that, unfortunately, inequality kills: departments with more inequality face a higher incidence rate of the disease, expressed as the number of deaths and discharged (gravely ill) patients. Using covariance analysis combining both deaths and releases, we find no statistically differential relationship across factors that contribute to deaths or recoveries.

  • Monitoring the macroeconomic impact of Covid-2019 in real-time: insights from unconventional data

    How big is the economic impact of Covid-19 on the economy? This question has been giving economists and policymakers a massive headache for some weeks now.

  • Inequality in healthcare: saturation of hospitals and death by COVID-19
    • ARTICLES
    • May 8, 2020
    • -
    • S. Falcone and E. Navarra

    The spread of COVID-19 pandemic has put healthcare systems around the world under strain. Is there any relationship between the burden on hospital facilities and the number of deaths by COVID-19? In this study, we exploit regional variation in the Italian healthcare system and the severity of the contagion to provide suggestive evidence that well-equipped intensive care units (ICUs) can save human lives from deaths by COVID-19.

  • The wanderings of Coronavirus

    Contrary to the mantra of virologists in the beginning of the pandemic, gloriously repeated by almost all newspapers—perhaps with the good intention to scare the hell out of us—one infected individual could infect a little more than two other individuals. Why?

subscribe via RSS

Learning from the curve

An open source research project on COVID19 and economics. A collaboration between academics to reach out to policy makers and the general public.

Website design by Alessandro Gallina