COVID-19, Lockdown and Its Effect on Consumption Behavior of Household: Evidence from Maharashtra State, India

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of COVID-19, nationwide lockdown, and measures taken by the central bank to adjust the consumer behavior of households in Maharashtra, India. This study used a structured questionnaire to achieve the objectives with a sample size of 221 and statistical tools like Logistics regression, Kruskal Wallis Test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, and Chi-Square Test. The results indicate that COVID-19 decreased the consumption of the household and that there was a significantly positive relationship between the level of consumption during lockdown and age, gender, number of dependents, income, education level, and region. People tend to lower their consumption for non-essential categories and increase for essential ones. The current study is considered the first of its kind conducted in Maharashtra, India. To the best of our knowledge, there were no such studies regarding measuring the impact of COVID-19 on household consumption.