1. Unintended Consequences of Lockdowns: Evidence from Domestic Helpers in Urban China.
- Author
-
Xiaobo He and Fang Xiao
- Subjects
STAY-at-home orders ,LABOR supply ,LABOR market ,SARS-CoV-2 ,COVID-19 - Abstract
This paper addresses the reactions of domestic helpers to the Wuhan (Hubei Province) lockdown that began on January 23, 2020. We use a novel dataset containing the information of over 40,000 Chinese domestic helpers registered on a leading professional website from November 2019 to June 2020. The results indicate a declining pattern of short-term labor supply of domestic helpers across 11 major Chinese cities, which shows an increase in the expected monthly wage of domestic helpers in these cities. More importantly, using a difference-in-difference (DID) model, this paper provides some evidence on the existence of labor market discrimination against domestic helpers born in Hubei Province due to employers' fear of infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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