The Distributional Impact of the Pandemic

Pré-publication, Document de travail: The top quartile of the income distribution accounts for almost half of the pandemic-related decline in aggregate consumption, with expenditure for this group falling much more than income. In contrast, the bottom quartile of the income distribution has seen the smallest spending cuts and the largest earnings drop but their total incomes have fallen by much less because of the increase in government benefits. The decline in consumers' spending preceded the introduction of the lockdown, whose partial lifting has triggered a stronger recovery in sectors with a lower contact rate. The largest spending contractions are concentrated in the most affluent regions. These conclusions are based on detailed high-frequency transaction data on spending, earnings and income from a large fintech company in the United Kingdom.

Auteur(s)

Hacioglu Sinem, Diego R Känzig, Paolo Surico

Date de publication
  • 2020
Mots-clés JEL
D12 E21 H31
Mots-clés
  • Spending
  • Earnings
  • Income
  • Benefits
  • Heterogeneity
  • Pandemic
Référence interne
  • World Inequality Lab Working Papers n°2020-24
Version
  • 1