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Alexander W. Bartik

Bio: Alexander W. Bartik is an academic researcher from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The author has contributed to research in topics: Small business & Household income. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 17 publications receiving 915 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Drawing on a survey of more than 5,800 small businesses, insight is provided into the economic impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on small businesses and on businesses’ expectations about the longer-term impact of CO VID-19.
Abstract: To explore the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on small businesses, we conducted a survey of more than 5,800 small businesses between March 28 and April 4, 2020. Several themes emerged. First, mass layoffs and closures had already occurred-just a few weeks into the crisis. Second, the risk of closure was negatively associated with the expected length of the crisis. Moreover, businesses had widely varying beliefs about the likely duration of COVID-related disruptions. Third, many small businesses are financially fragile: The median business with more than $10,000 in monthly expenses had only about 2 wk of cash on hand at the time of the survey. Fourth, the majority of businesses planned to seek funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. However, many anticipated problems with accessing the program, such as bureaucratic hassles and difficulties establishing eligibility. Using experimental variation, we also assess take-up rates and business resilience effects for loans relative to grants-based programs.

836 citations

ReportDOI
TL;DR: In addition to its impact on public health, COVID-19 has had a major impact on the economy as mentioned in this paper, and the authors shed light on how COVID19 is affecting small businesses.
Abstract: In addition to its impact on public health, COVID-19 has had a major impact on the economy To shed light on how COVID-19 is affecting small businesses – and on

393 citations

ReportDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide results from firm surveys on both small and large businesses on the prevalence and productivity of remote work, and expectations about the persistence of remote working once the COVID-19 crisis ends.
Abstract: The threat of COVID-19 has increased the health risks of going to an office or factory, leading more workers to do their jobs remotely In this paper, we provide results from firm surveys on both small and large businesses on the prevalence and productivity of remote work, and expectations about the persistence of remote work once the COVID-19 crisis ends We present four main findings First, while overall levels of remote work are high, there is considerable variation across industries The Dingel and Neiman (2020) measure of suitability for remote work does a remarkably good job of predicting the industry level patterns of remote work - highlighting the challenge of moving many industries to remote work Second, remote work is much more common in industries with better educated and better paid workers Third, in our larger survey, employers think that there has been less productivity loss from remote working in better educated and higher paid industries Fourth, more than one-third of firms that had employees switch to remote work believe that remote work will remain more common at their company even after the COVID-19 crisis ends

184 citations

ReportDOI
TL;DR: This article used traditional and non-traditional data sources to measure the collapse and subsequent partial recovery of the U S labor market in Spring 2020 using daily labor market data from the U.S. labor market.
Abstract: We use traditional and non-traditional data sources to measure the collapse and subsequent partial recovery of the U S labor market in Spring 2020 Using daily

115 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors find that allowing fracing leads to sharp increases in oil and gas recovery and improvements in a wide set of economic indicators, while the estimated willingness-to-pay for the decrease in local amenities (e.g., crime and noise) is roughly equal to -$1000 to $1,600 per household annually (-1.9% to -3.1% of mean household income).
Abstract: Exploiting geological variation within shale deposits and timing in the initiation of hydraulic fracturing, this paper finds that allowing fracing leads to sharp increases in oil and gas recovery and improvements in a wide set of economic indicators. At the same time, estimated willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the decrease in local amenities (e.g., crime and noise) is roughly equal to -$1000 to -$1,600 per household annually (-1.9% to -3.1% of mean household income). Overall, we estimate that WTP for allowing fracing equals about $1,300 to $1,900 per household annually (2.5% to 3.7%), although there is substantial heterogeneity across shale regions.

88 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present real-time survey evidence from the UK, US and Germany showing that the immediate labor market impacts of Covid-19 differ considerably across countries.

900 citations

25 Jun 2020
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report daily statistics on consumer spending, business revenues, employment rates, and other key indicators disaggregated by county, industry, and income group, and use event study designs to estimate the causal effects of policies aimed at mitigating the adverse impacts of COVID.
Abstract: We build a publicly available platform that tracks economic activity at a granular level in real time using anonymized data from private companies. We report daily statistics on consumer spending, business revenues, employment rates, and other key indicators disaggregated by county, industry, and income group. Using these data, we study the mechanisms through which COVID-19 affected the economy by analyzing heterogeneity in its impacts across geographic areas and income groups. We first show that high-income individuals reduced spending sharply in mid-March 2020, particularly in areas with high rates of COVID-19 infection and in sectors that require physical interaction. This reduction in spending greatly reduced the revenues of businesses that cater to high-income households in person, notably small businesses in affluent ZIP codes. These businesses laid off most of their low-income employees, leading to a surge in unemployment claims in affluent areas. Building on this diagnostic analysis, we use event study designs to estimate the causal effects of policies aimed at mitigating the adverse impacts of COVID. State-ordered reopenings of economies have little impact on local employment. Stimulus payments to low-income households increased consumer spending sharply, but had modest impacts on employment in the short run, perhaps because very little of the increased spending flowed to businesses most affected by the COVID-19 shock. Paycheck Protection Program loans have also had little impact on employment at small businesses. These results suggest that traditional macroeconomic tools – stimulating aggregate demand or providing liquidity to businesses – may have diminished capacity to restore employment when consumer spending is constrained by health concerns. During a pandemic, it may be more fruitful to mitigate economic hardship through social insurance. More broadly, this analysis illustrates how real-time economic tracking using private sector data can help rapidly identify the origins of economic crises and facilitate ongoing evaluation of policy impacts.

458 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the Covid-19 pandemic has confronted the hospitality industry with an unprecedented challenge, and strategies to deal with it are discussed, including strategies to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
Abstract: Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s economy was shut down almost overnight (UNWTO, 2020). The pandemic has confronted the hospitality industry with an unprecedented challenge. Strategies to f...

433 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors survey the developing and rapidly growing literature on the economic consequences of COVID-19 and the governmental responses, and synthetize the insights emerging from a very large number of studies.
Abstract: The goal of this piece is to survey the developing and rapidly growing literature on the economic consequences of COVID-19 and the governmental responses, and to synthetize the insights emerging from a very large number of studies. This survey: (i) provides an overview of the data sets and the techniques employed to measure social distancing and COVID-19 cases and deaths; (ii) reviews the literature on the determinants of compliance with and the effectiveness of social distancing; (iii) mentions the macroeconomic and financial impacts including the modelling of plausible mechanisms; (iv) summarizes the literature on the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19, focusing on those aspects related to labor, health, gender, discrimination, and the environment; and (v) summarizes the literature on public policy responses.

400 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Examining the drivers of the economic slowdown using cellular phone records data on customer visits to more than 2.25 million individual businesses across 110 different industries suggests that legal shutdown orders account for only a modest share of the massive changes to consumer behavior.

387 citations