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581. Jobs’ Amenability to Working from Home: Evidence from Skills Surveys for 53 Countries

Author:
Maho Hatayama, Mariana Viollaz, and Hernan Winkler
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
The spread of COVID-19 and implementation of “social distancing” policies around the world have raised the question of how many jobs can be done at home. This paper uses skills surveys from 53 countries at varying levels of economic development to estimate jobs’ amenability to working from home. The paper considers jobs’ characteristics and uses internet access at home as an important determinant of working from home. The findings indicate that the amenability of jobs to working from home increases with the level of economic development of the country. This is driven by jobs in poor countries being more intensive in physical/manual tasks, using less information and communications technology, and having poorer internet connectivity at home. Women, college graduates, and salaried and formal workers have jobs that are more amenable to working from home than the average worker. The opposite holds for workers in hotels and restaurants, construction, agriculture, and commerce. The paper finds that the crisis may exacerbate inequities between and within countries. It also finds that occupations explain less than half of the variability in the working-from-home indexes within countries, which highlights the importance of using individual-level data to assess jobs’ amenability to working from home.
Topic:
Employment, Pandemic, Job Creation, COVID-19, and Hospitality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

582. The Effectiveness of School Closures and Other Pre-Lockdown COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies in Argentina, Italy, and South Korea

Author:
Claudio Neidhofer and Guido Neidhofer
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
The rapid spread of COVID-19 forced policy-makers to swiftly find solutions to reduce infection rates and keep mortality as low as possible. Empirical analyses on the effectiveness of control measures are hereby of primary importance. School closures were among the earliest measures enacted by the governments of most countries. However, while schools are now reopening in many countries, the impact of school closures on the course of the epidemic is still an open question. Adopting parametric and non-parametric synthetic control methods we estimate the effectiveness of pro-active school closures, and other early social distancing interventions, in three countries that reacted relatively early during the course of the pandemic. Our findings suggest that these interventions were effective at reducing the mortality rate of COVID-19, especially when enacted early.
Topic:
Education, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Europe, Asia, South Korea, Argentina, South America, and Italy

583. COVID-19 Lockdown and Domestic Violence: Evidence from Internet-Search Behavior in 11 Countries

Author:
Inés Berniell and Giovanni Facchini
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
Abstract:
We study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic violence in 11 countries with different ex-ante incidence of domestic violence (DV) and lockdown intensity. We use a novel measure of DV incidents that allows us to make cross-country com- parisons: a Google search intensity index of DV-related topics. Our difference-in- difference estimates show an increase in DV search intensity after lockdown (31%), with larger effects as more people stayed at home (measured with Google Mobil- ity Data). The peak of the increase in DV appears, on average, 7 weeks after the introduction of the lockdown. While we observe that the positive impacts on DV is a widespread phenomenon, the effect in developed countries is more than twice as strong as in Latin American countries. We show that the difference in impact correlates with the
Topic:
Public Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Domestic Violence
Political Geography:
Global Focus

584. Cushioning Local Governments From The Impact of COVID-19

Author:
Jonas Mbabazi, Fred Kasalirwe, Phoebe Atukunda, and Walter Akena
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This policy brief presents proposals that will cushion local governments from the impact of COVID-19. Undeniably, responding to Covid-19 challenges at any level is associated with heavy demands on human, financial and logistical resources. Globally, Covid-19 emergence response is multi-sectorial to enable a holistic solution to the concomitant challenges. District councils, a creation of the Local Government Act are mandated to oversee health services. Other than frontline health workers, each district has a community-based services department with officers’ in-charge of probation and social welfare, social rehabilitation, children and youth affairs, gender, disability and elderly, culture, labour and many others. Since the mandate of personnel in this department is to operate in communities, these should be enlisted to respond and manage the community-component of Covid-19.
Topic:
Government, Local, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

585. Fiscal Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic and Economic Recovery Measures: A Synthesis Report of Proceedings from the 10th Annual High Level Pre-Budget Dialogue

Author:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This report is a synthesis of proceedings of the 10th high level dialogue on the national budget that largely focused on what should be prioritized during the Covid-19 pandemic, what the change may mean for the Uganda's development in the short-term and the interventions for economic recovery.
Topic:
Budget, Public Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Economic Recovery
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

586. The Performance of the COVID-19 District Task Forces in Uganda: Understanding the Dynamics and Functionality

Author:
Jonas Mbabazi and Fred Kasalirwe
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This policy brief is a product of the assessment of the performance of the COVID-19 District Task Forces (DTFs) in Uganda. This study on the performance of the COVID-19 District Task Forces was conducted under the Local Government Council's Scorecard Initiative (LGCSCI), a social accountability project implemented in 35 Districts in Uganda. The main objective of the study was to establish the determinants and level of performance of District COVID-19 Task Forces to enhance their effectiveness.
Topic:
Governance, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

587. The Performance of the COVID-19 District Task Forces in Uganda: Understanding the Dynamics and Functionality

Author:
Wilson Winstons Muhwezi, Jonas Mbabazi, Fred Kasalirwe, Phoebe Atukunda, Eugene Gerald Ssemakula, Oscord Mark Otile, Rebecca N. Mukwaya, and Walter Akena
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This report is an important assessment of the performance of the DTFs in implementing the COVID-19 pandemic containment plan. As the world is faced with the unprecedented challenges from COVID-19, the strain on many governments is extreme, and the impact on people all over the world continues to grow. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the social and economic structures of service delivery with significant consequences on lives, livelihoods and general economic development. As part of the response mechanism to contain and manage the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Uganda instituted national and sub-national COVID-19 task forces to implement and manage the COVID-19 pandemic containment and recovery measures. The Presidential Decree on COVID-19 recognizes the Central Government's role in the provision of healthcare and security. District Taskforces (DTFs) were put in place to support Central Government's containment of COVID-19 and implementation of the GoU COVID-19 containment styrategies of case management, surveillance, health promotion, resource mobilization, enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and continued delivery of basic services.
Topic:
Governance, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

588. Israel and the Mediterranean Basin Amid the Coronavirus Crisis

Author:
Mitvim
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies
Abstract:
This paper focuses on the impact of the coronavirus on Israel’s relations with the Mediterranean Basin. It is based on the main points raised at the sixth meeting of the research and policy group on “Israel in the Mediterranean” held on May 14, 2020 at the initiative of the Mitvim Institute, the Hebrew University’s Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations and Haifa University’s National Security Studies Center. The paper highlights the key insights emerging from the Eastern Mediterranean’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic, including the importance of regional cooperation for Israel’s national resilience, the strengthening of Israel’s alliance with Greece and Cyprus, the economic importance of the Mediterranean for Israel, the energy crisis and its impact, and Israel’s ties with Arab states. The paper does not reflect agreement among all the meeting participants.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, Economy, Coronavirus, Pandemic, and Resilience
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Mediterranean

589. Brief Introduction on the International Impacts of the 2020 Pandemic: Contributions to a Strategic Analysis

Author:
Paulo Fagundes Visentini
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
Institution:
Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Abstract:
The origins of the current pandemic are wrapped up in conspiracy theories, but what is known is that it reached the foundations of the world system based on economic globalisation, reinforcing national and social antagonisms. Analysing the situation during its unpredictable evolution is risky, but the costs of not trying are even greater, given the prevailing confusion and manipulation. The dimensions and speed of the spread of the virus are unprecedented, since the world is much more urbanised and connected than in previous pandemics. Dominant strategies and narratives simply lost their meaning, leaving a vacuum that is filled by short-term reactive actions. But is hard politics paralysed, or the crisis creates conditions for projects to be implemented almost without opposition?
Topic:
Globalization, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

590. Life and Death During the First Six Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author:
Lykke E. Andersen and Alejandra Gonzales Rocabado
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD)
Abstract:
This study carries out a cross-country analysis of changes in quantity and quality of life during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic (11 March to 11 September 2020) for 124 countries. Changes in quantity of life are measured as life years lost to COVID-19, including excess deaths not officially reported as COVID-19 deaths. Changes in quality of life are proxied by the average change in daily mobility, compared to a pre-COVID baseline. We find a significant negative correlation between the two, meaning that the countries with the biggest reductions in mobility are also the countries with the biggest losses of life years. We calculate that about 15 million life years were lost during the first six months of the pandemic, corresponding to 0.006% of all expected life years. For comparison, at least three times more life years are lost every six months due to children dying of diarrhea. About 28 million life years are created every day from babies being born, so the first six months of the pandemic set us back about 14 hours in terms of quantity of life. The setbacks in terms of quality of life are several orders of magnitude larger. Some countries have suffered more than a 50% reduction in mobility sustained over half a year, with devastating effects on many aspects of quality of life. Globally, the equivalent of 400 million full-time jobs were lost. GDP is estimated to have been set back about three years, poverty about five years, and the tourism industry about 20 years. The already large inequalities in access to quality education have been further widened, leaving hundreds of millions of disadvantaged children farther behind. Even countries that have managed the pandemic relatively well are suffering large economic contractions due to the negative spill-over effects from other countries. We still have a long way to go before this pandemic is over, and we urgently need to course-correct in order not to cause even more harm than has already been done. The paper provides a series of recommendations on what needs to be done to minimize total harm.
Topic:
Political Economy, GDP, Mobility, Mortality, Coronavirus, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Quality of Life
Political Geography:
Latin America and Bolivia