Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In 2023, the periodical literature on the period 1945 to present centred on key themes relating to business cycles, labour markets, and policy responses to economic crises.The lasting impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was evident, with several papers directly addressing the pandemic, and a renewed emphasis on job quality, resilience, and well-being throughout the literature and especially in articles relating to employment, health, education, and social policy.These themes intersect with ongoing interest in the field in inequality and disparities in economic outcomes.Methodologically, the literature remains diverse, demonstrating a rich array of approaches to understanding economies of the past and present.Many papers use mixed methods, linking theory and empirical work in economics-focused papers, and integrating qualitative and econometric evidence in more historical work.Throughout the literature, evaluating historical and contemporary policy responses to national and global challenges emerges as a central aim of recent research.As the global COVID-19 pandemic recedes into the past, the increased availability of data on the pandemic and clarity gained with time has led to many articles on the topic.What is most striking is the way the pandemic touched all areas of the economy.Crossley et al. use panel data to measure the initial labour market impacts of the pandemic in the United Kingdom.They find fewer differences in labour market outcomes by gender than expected and that, even though minority and young workers were especially disadvantaged, these effects were temporary.Some negative labour market consequences may have been mitigated by the furlough program, which Görtz et al. show made workers 95 per cent less likely to fall behind on bills than if they had become unemployed.On fiscal responses, Albuquerque and Green estimate that UK households that were most concerned about their ability to pay bills during the pandemic had a higher marginal propensity to consume a one-time positive cash transfer, suggesting that fiscal stimulus might be most effective if it targeted these households.Ayaz et al. explore how the increased fiscal pressure in the future from the COVID-19 pandemic support should best be addressed through the tax system.Using data at the local level for England, Giulietti et al. find that exposure to more COVID-19 mortality meaningfully increased vaccine take-up, especially for ethnic minorities, which suggests potential informational responses to future pandemics.In cross-national comparisons, Antràs et al. show
Source: The Economic History Review
DOI: 10.1111/ehr.13405
Author: Meredith M. Paker
Institution: Grinnell College
Language: English
Topic: COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4404777440