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Slums and Pandemics

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Abstract
This paper studies the role of slums in shaping the economic and health dynamics of pandemics. Using data from millions of mobile phones in Brazil, an event-study analysis shows that residents of overcrowded slums engaged in less social distancing after the outbreak of Covid-19. We develop a choice-theoretic equilibrium model in which individuals are heterogeneous in income and some people live in high-density slums. The model is calibrated to Rio de Janeiro. Slum dwellers account for a disproportionately high number of infections and deaths. In a counterfactual scenario without slums, deaths increase in non-slum neighborhoods. Policy simulations indicate that: reallocating medical resources cuts deaths and raises output and the welfare of both groups; mild lockdowns favor slum individuals by mitigating the demand for hospital beds, whereas strict confinements mostly delay the evolution of the pandemic; and cash transfers benefit slum residents to the detriment of others, highlighting important distributional effects.

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  • Luiz Brotherhood, 2020. "Slums and Pandemics," Working Papers w202015, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:ptu:wpaper:w202015
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    Cited by:

    1. Brotherhood, Luiz & Jerbashian, Vahagn, 2023. "Firm behavior during an epidemic," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    2. Bisin, Alberto & Moro, Andrea, 2022. "Spatial‐SIR with network structure and behavior: Lockdown rules and the Lucas critique," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 370-388.
    3. Basu Parantap & Bell Clive & Edwards Terence Huw, 2022. "COVID Social Distancing and the Poor: An Analysis of the Evidence for England," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 22(1), pages 211-240, January.
    4. Hur, Sewon, 2022. "Comment on “COVID-19 in segmented societies” by Constantino Hevia, Manuel Macera, and Pablo Andrés Neumeyer," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    5. Brotherhood, Luiz & Kircher, Philipp & Santos, Cezar & Tertilt, Michèle, 2023. "Optimal Age-based Policies for Pandemics: An Economic Analysis of Covid-19 and Beyond," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13295, Inter-American Development Bank.
    6. Hausmann, Ricardo & Schetter, Ulrich, 2022. "Horrible trade-offs in a pandemic: Poverty, fiscal space, policy, and welfare," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Parantap Basu & Susmita Das & Arnab Dutta Choudhury & Ritwik Mazumder, 2023. "Why do urban people in India succumb to Covid 19 more? Investigating the Role of Lifestyle Disorder Disease," Working Papers 2023_03, Durham University Business School.
    8. Alfaro, Laura & Faia, Ester & Lamersdorf, Nora & Saidi, Farzad, 2024. "Altruism, social interactions, and the course of a pandemic," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. J. Daniel Aromí & M. Paula Bonel & Julián Cristiá & Martín Llada, 2020. "Socio-economic status and mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of large Latin American urban areas," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4307, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    10. Brotherhood, Luiz & Kircher, Philipp & Santos, Cezar & Tertilt, Michele, 2024. "Optimal Age-based Policies for Pandemics: An Economic Analysis of Covid-19 and Beyond," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2024012, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    11. Parantap Basu & Ritwik Mazumder, 2021. "Regional disparity of covid-19 infections: an investigation using state-level Indian data," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 215-232, June.

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    JEL classification:

    • E17 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques

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