Disparities in COVID-19 Risk Exposure: Evidence from Geolocation Data

36 Pages Posted: 22 Sep 2020 Last revised: 3 May 2021

See all articles by Milena Almagro

Milena Almagro

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Joshua Coven

NYU Stern School of Business

Arpit Gupta

NYU Stern School of Business

Angelo Orane-Hutchinson

New York University (NYU) - Department of Economics

Date Written: February 24, 2021

Abstract

We document that racial disparities in COVID-19 in New York City stem from patterns of commuting and housing crowding. During the initial wave of the pandemic, out- of-home activity related to commuting is strongly associated with COVID-19 cases at the ZIP Code level and hospitalization at an individual level. After layoffs of essential workers decreased commuting, case growth continued through household crowding. A larger share of individuals in crowded housing or commuting to essential work are Black, Hispanic, and lower-income. As a result, structural inequalities, rather than population density, help determine the cross-section of COVID-19 risk exposure in urban areas.

Keywords: racial disparities, coronavirus, housing crowding, mobility

JEL Classification: I14, J15, R23

Suggested Citation

Almagro, Milena and Coven, Joshua and Gupta, Arpit and Orane Hutchinson, Angelo, Disparities in COVID-19 Risk Exposure: Evidence from Geolocation Data (February 24, 2021). NYU Stern School of Business Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3695249 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3695249

Milena Almagro

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
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Joshua Coven

NYU Stern School of Business ( email )

Stern School of Business
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United States

Arpit Gupta (Contact Author)

NYU Stern School of Business ( email )

Suite 9-160
New York, NY
United States

HOME PAGE: http://arpitgupta.info

Angelo Orane Hutchinson

New York University (NYU) - Department of Economics ( email )

19 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10012
United States

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