Does informality increase the spread of COVID-19 in Africa? A cross-country examination

Nguimkeu, Pierre; Okou, Cédric

doi:10.1080/13504851.2021.1910128

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…16 Although our analysis uses U.S. data, we can offer similar conjectures in developing countries like those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As we mentioned in the Introduction, enforcing an effective lockdown strategy in a pandemic like COVID-19 in SSA requires significant government financial support since more than 80% of people in the workforce find their livelihoods in the informal sector (Nguimkeu, 2014;Nguimkeu & Okou, 2021). This might explain why several African countries have relied on less costly mitigating strategies such as mask-wearing and hand washing while waiting for the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines.…”

Section: Explaining Heterogeneity Of Lockdown Effectiveness (θ) Acros...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Profits, Pandemics, and Lockdown Effectiveness in Nursing Home Networks

et al. 2022

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Section: Explaining Heterogeneity Of Lockdown Effectiveness (θ) Acros...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Profits, Pandemics, and Lockdown Effectiveness in Nursing Home Networks

et al. 2022

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“…The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and containment measures have dealt a severe blow to the global economy [ 1 – 3 ]. Thus, a recession of -4.4% is expected, which is worse than the economic contraction observed during the global financial crisis of 2008–09 [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few studies have presented empirical verification of the factors that may explain the rapid spread of this pandemic worldwide. [ 3 ] demonstrated that the informal sector was the main cause of the spread of the pandemic in a sample of 46 sub-Saharan African countries. Similarly, [ 31 ] show through a sample of 182 countries that a population aged at least 65 years, population density and urbanization enhance the spread of the disease meanwhile the average temperature around the first quarter (January-March) acts in the opposite direction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in low-income municipalities, it had a negative effect. [ 3 ] find no significant effect of health care quality and income on the disease spread. These contradictions in the prior literature prompt us to reexamine the relationship between poverty and the spread of Covid-19 in Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the [ 39 ], the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led an estimated 55 million Africans into extreme poverty by 2020 and reversed more than two decades of progress in poverty reduction on the continent [ 39 ]. In this region, households facing hunger and relying on daily informal incomes may continue to go about their business [ 3 , 40 ], putting themselves at greater risks of potential infections [ 34 ]. To stem the negative effects of the crisis on the poor and vulnerable, African governments have increased social assistance in the form of cash and in-kind transfers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does poverty increase COVID-19 in Africa? A cross-country analysis

2022

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Background Most economies in African countries are informal. As such, households in these countries tend to face higher levels of informality coupled with a lack of social protection, and have no replacement income or savings in the event of unexpected external shocks, such as COVID-19. Thus, the COVID-19 shock and its negative economic effects triggered a cascade of income losses and bankruptcies that pushed a significant share of households in African countries into poverty. This research analyzes the effect of poverty on the spread of COVID-19 using a sample of 52 African countries. Methods To achieve the objective of this research, this paper uses a multiple linear regression model and a sample of 52 African countries observed in 2020 to conduct a cross-country analysis. More importantly, two COVID-19 indicators (total number of officially reported cases and disease severity) and six poverty indicators (average poverty, poverty incidence, poverty depth, poverty severity, multidimensional poverty index, and extreme poverty) were used in this research. Results The results show a positive and significant relationship between poverty and the spread of COVID-19. Conclusions These results suggest that more attention needs to be paid to poor populations in African countries during the pandemic. These populations are generally vulnerable, and there is a need for support programs targeting them to be put in place quickly. These programs may include food aid, distribution of supplies, health care support, fee waivers, and interest deferrals. In addition, sensitization of these disadvantaged groups on vaccination against COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity is strongly encouraged.

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Rethinking Informal Economy Resilience during Crisis: Experience from COVID-19 Pandemic

Aditya,

Amri

2023

Ind. J. Labour Econ.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the public health system and socioeconomic sector, one of the worst being the impacts on the informal economy. Despite their past survival, the current pandemic-induced crisis has cast doubt on informal economy resilience. This study aims to capture the informal economy resilience facing the unprecedented economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. We reviewed 42 selected peer-reviewed journal articles to synthesise a general concept of informal economy resilience during pandemic-induced crisis. We found that strict lockdown during a pandemic becomes the main driver that exacerbates the vulnerability of informal economy. The impacts are spatiotemporally varied, different within the group, and have multilevel characteristics (from individual to society). This vulnerable condition has triggered the informal economy to conduct several coping mechanisms to face economic disadvantages. Both individual coping mechanisms and government intervention have altered the informal economy's resilience throughout time. The current combination of defense mechanisms results in four possibilities: bounce back better, bounce back, recover but worsen, and collapse. This review offers valuable insights into the appropriate actions that governments should undertake in response to economic downturns resulting from pandemics. It highlights the importance of considering vulnerable groups when formulating policy during a crisis.

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Does informality increase the spread of COVID-19 in Africa? A cross-country examination

Cited by 9 publications

References 6 publications

Profits, Pandemics, and Lockdown Effectiveness in Nursing Home Networks

Profits, Pandemics, and Lockdown Effectiveness in Nursing Home Networks

Does poverty increase COVID-19 in Africa? A cross-country analysis

Rethinking Informal Economy Resilience during Crisis: Experience from COVID-19 Pandemic

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