Title: The Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19: Risk Preference, Trust, Depression, and Labor Market Outcome

Speaker: Xianqiang Zou, Renmin University of China

Time: May 18th, 2020    13:30-15:00     

Venue: Online

About the speaker:

Xianqiang Zou is currently an assistant professor at the School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China. His research interests include Labor Economics, Development Economics, and Behavior Economics. In particular, he works on intergenerational mobility, inequality, and human development. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Department of Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2019. 

Abstract:

Utilizing a national online survey we conducted during late March and early April in China, we examine the impact of COVID-19 on individual's willingness to take risks, willingness to trust other people, and their mental health measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale. Our findings suggest that people who live in the neighborhood with a higher number of confirmed cases became more risk-averse, less likely to trust others, and more depressed. Interestingly, the effects on risk preference and trust attitudes are statistically significant only for men, and the effects on depression are statistically significant only for women. Furthermore, men are more willing to buy new commercial insurance and less likely to make a risky investment, which is consistent with our findings on risk preference.  We also investigate the short-term impact of COVID-19 on employment, wages, and remote work arrangements in China. Preliminary findings suggest that COVID-19 increased the unemployment rate and decreased workers' wages. However, the COVID-19 had no significant impact on the adoption of remote work arrangements.