The Labor Market Implications of Restricted Mobility during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kenya : Evidence from Nationally Representative Phone Surveys
The COVID-19 pandemic affected people’s livelihoods in many ways, particularly in developing countries. This paper examines the degree to which recovering mobility levels impacted labor market outcomes in Kenya over the course of the pandemic, star...
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| Language: | English |
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/776821646839663297/The-Labor-Market-Implications-of-Restricted-Mobility-during-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-in-Kenya-Evidence-from-Nationally-Representative-Phone-Surveys http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37116 |
| Summary: | The COVID-19 pandemic affected
people’s livelihoods in many ways, particularly in
developing countries. This paper examines the degree to
which recovering mobility levels impacted labor market
outcomes in Kenya over the course of the pandemic, starting
from May 2020 until June 2021. It uses an instrumental
variable approach to identify the causal impacts of mobility
reduction induced by policy changes on labor market
outcomes. The findings show that a 10 percent recovery of
mobility led to a 12 percentage points increase in labor
force participation and a 9 percent points increase in
household members being employed. At the same time, a 10
percent recovery of mobility caused an increase of 11 wage
hours per week (formal and informal). Among the factors
influencing self-reported mobility-reducing behavior, trust
in the government’s ability to deal with the pandemic
correlates with less self-reported mobility reduction, while
people who knew someone with an infection tend to reduce
mobility less. Finally, countrywide policy stringency levels
clearly reduce self-reported mobility. Given the
demonstrated adverse impacts of reducing mobility on
economic indicators, the government should explore options
to limit the economic fall-out while protecting citizens
from infections, for example, by using partial or
geographically constrained lockdowns. |
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