Working Papers

Hourly employment, wages, and work substitution during the pandemic: Evidence from small businesses and location data (with Tannista Banerjee)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers at all levels implemented social distancing policies to limit the spread of the virus. These policies have direct and indirect effects on the labor market. However, the political implications of social distancing policies have not been explored thoroughly. We analyzed the effect of state-level emergency declarations (indirect impact) and business closure orders (direct impact) on hourly employment, wages, and work substitution using two unique datasets: hourly employee information for over one million U.S. small businesses and cell phone location data. Our results show that the policies significantly reduced the number of employees, weekly hours worked, and percentage of weekly wages in a company. Interestingly, political affiliation played a significant role, with Republican-leaning counties showing higher work rates and less social distancing. Despite potential endogeneity issues, our findings imply that social distancing policies impact labor market outcomes, and that political beliefs influence compliance with health policies. Public policies are required to increase employment and protect small businesses from exiting the market.

Paper in Progress

Paycheck Protection Program and Small Business: Real-Time Analysis (coming soon)

Effects of Marketing Authorization Holder System: Evidence from China's Medical Device Industry (with Tannista Banerjee and Yiyu Xing)

The Impact of Child Tax Credit on Household Health Recovery

Publication

DUTTA, S., BOSE, M. and RUNGTA, R., Discourse on Ambulatory Healthcare in Uttar Pradesh, India: A Study Based on NSS Data. BUSINESS, ECONOMICS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, p.218