Exploring the hidden impact of the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of urbanization

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Economics & Human Biology

Publication Date

3-10-2022

Abstract

We examine the role of residential environments (urban/rural) in understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions in nationwide movement on several socio-economic attitudes. We conducted large-scale surveys in four European countries (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom) before and after nationwide lockdowns were implemented. We investigate how the pandemic affected: (i) economic (economic insecurity), (ii) political (trust in domestic and international institutions), and (iii) social attitudes (loneliness), by controlling for the degree of urbanization, obtained from the geocodes of the survey respondents. Our results show that taking the degree of urbanization into account is not only relevant but is also essential. Compared to urban areas, in rural areas lockdowns led to a greater increase of economic insecurity and to a greater decrease in trust in domestic institutions. We also show that these results are particularly valid for women and households with children.

ISSN

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

46

First Page

101119

Last Page

101119

Disciplines

Business

Keywords

Lockdown, COVID-19, Urban-rural differences, Economic insecurity, Trust, Social loneliness

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Green: A manuscript of this publication is openly available in a repository

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