Annual Meetings

Countries in Asia have taken significant measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic while aiming to limit its economics costs. We employ new high frequency data to examine the effect of containment and policy measures in affecting the health and economic consequences of the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated renewed interest in short-time work programs (STW)—the state-sponsored work-sharing schemes aimed at saving jobs. Kurzarbeit, Germany’s STW is widely considered the gold standard of such programs. This presentation analyzes Kurzarbeit’s main design features—that help strike a balance between protecting jobs and avoiding too much rigidity in the labor market—and highlights its role in the current crisis.

Both lockdowns and voluntary social distancing contributed to the recent economic contraction. Lockdowns impacted especially the mobility of women and younger cohorts. Early and tight lockdowns have been particularly effective in curbing infections.