Author
Titan Alon
Other affiliations: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Northwestern University
Bio: Titan Alon is an academic researcher from University of California, San Diego. The author has contributed to research in topics: Recession & Wage. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 16 publications receiving 772 citations. Previous affiliations of Titan Alon include Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco & Northwestern University.
Topics: Recession, Wage, Unemployment, Foreign direct investment, Private sector
Papers
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TL;DR: The economic downturn caused by the current COVID-19 outbreak has substantial implications for gender equality, both during the downturn and the subsequent recovery as discussed by the authors, which has a particularly large impact on working mothers.
Abstract: The economic downturn caused by the current COVID-19 outbreak has substantial implications for gender equality, both during the downturn and the subsequent recovery. Compared to “regular” recessions, which affect men’s employment more severely than women’s employment, the employment drop related to social distancing measures has a large impact on sectors with high female employment shares. In addition, closures of schools and daycare centers have massively increased child care needs, which has a particularly large impact on working mothers. The effects of the crisis on working mothers are likely to be persistent, due to high returns to experience in the labor market. Beyond the immediate crisis, there are opposing forces which may ultimately promote gender equality in the labor market. First, businesses are rapidly adopting flexible work arrangements, which are likely to persist. Second, there are also many fathers who now have to take primary responsibility for child care, which may erode social norms that currently lead to a lopsided distribution of the division of labor in house work and child care.
955 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that women have experienced sharp employment losses both because their employment is concentrated in heavily affected sectors such as restaurants, and due to increased childcare needs caused by school and daycare closures, preventing many women from working.
Abstract: From the Abstract: "In recent US recessions, employment losses have been much larger for men than for women Yet, in the current recession caused by the Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, the opposite is true: unemployment is higher among women In this paper, we analyze the causes and consequences of this phenomenon We argue that women have experienced sharp employment losses both because their employment is concentrated in heavily affected sectors such as restaurants, and due to increased childcare needs caused by school and daycare closures, preventing many women from working We analyze the repercussions of this trend using a quantitative macroeconomic model featuring heterogeneity in gender, marital status, childcare needs, and human capital Our quantitative analysis suggests that a pandemic recession will i) feature a strong transmission from employment to aggregate demand due to diminished within-household insurance;ii) result in a widening of the gender wage gap throughout the recovery;and iii) contribute to a weakening of the gender norms that currently produce a lopsided distribution of the division of labor in home work and childcare "
159 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors quantitatively analyzes how policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic should differ in developing countries, and they build an incomplete-markets macroeconomic model with heterogeneous agents and epidemiological dynamics that features several of the key distinctions between advanced and developing economies germane to the pandemic.
Abstract: This paper quantitatively analyzes how policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic should differ in developing countries. To do so we build an incomplete-markets macroeconomic model with heterogeneous agents and epidemiological dynamics that features several of the key distinctions between advanced and developing economies germane to the pandemic. We focus in particular on differences in: age structure, fiscal capacity, healthcare capacity, informality, and the frequency of contacts between individuals at home, work, school and other locations. The model predicts that blanket lockdowns are less effective in developing countries, saving fewer lives per unit of lost GDP. In contrast, age-specific policies are even more effective, since they focus scarce public funds on shielding the smaller population of older individuals. School closures are also more effective at saving lives in developing countries, providing a greater reduction in secondary transmissions between children and older adults at home.
95 citations
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TL;DR: This paper examined the impact of the global recession triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic on women's versus men's employment and found that women working from home during the pandemic spent more work time also doing childcare and experienced greater productivity reductions than men.
Abstract: We examine the impact of the global recession triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic on women's versus men's employment. Whereas recent recessions in advanced economies usually had a disproportionate impact on men's employment, giving rise to the moniker "mancessions," we show that the pandemic recession of 2020 was a "shecession" in most countries with larger employment declines among women. We examine the causes behind this pattern using micro data from several national labor force surveys, and show that both the composition of women's employment across industries and occupations as well as increased childcare needs during closures of schools and daycare centers made important contributions. While many countries exhibit similar patterns, we also emphasize how policy choices such as furloughing policies and the extent of school closures shape the pandemic's impact on the labor market. Another notable finding is the central role of telecommuting: gender gaps in the employment impact of the pandemic arise almost entirely among workers who are unable to work from home. Nevertheless, among telecommuters a different kind of gender gap arises: women working from home during the pandemic spent more work time also doing childcare and experienced greater productivity reductions than men. We discuss what our findings imply for gender equality in a post-pandemic labor market that will likely continue to be characterized by pervasive telecommuting.
68 citations
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TL;DR: This article provided an empirical analysis of the impact of the Chinese institutional environment on its globalization patterns, concluding that institutional discrimination creates relative advantages for state-owned firms at a cost to private enterprise.
Abstract: Building on prior literature, this paper provides an empirical analysis of the impact of the Chinese institutional environment on its globalization patterns. A framework is presented through which distortive government policies act upon existing country and firm‐specific advantages, giving rise to institutional‐specific (dis)advantages. The applicability of this framework is then tested empirically through an unrestricted regression model that controls for the standard explanatory factors of inter‐country foreign direct investment (FDI) in comparing state and private sector outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI) determinants. This study concludes that institutional discrimination creates relative advantages for state‐owned firms at a cost to private enterprise, leading to divergences in IB strategies.
55 citations
Cited by
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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
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Cornell University1, National University of Singapore2, University of New South Wales3, University of Lausanne4, University of Michigan5, Erasmus University Rotterdam6, Tel Aviv University7, University of Melbourne8, Singapore Management University9, University of Maryland, College Park10, University of Pennsylvania11, Eindhoven University of Technology12, Stanford University13, Concordia University14, London Business School15, Baylor University16, University College London17, California State University, Sacramento18, INSEAD19, Saint Louis University20, Nanyang Technological University21, University of Minnesota22, Harvard University23, University of Arkansas24, VU University Amsterdam25
TL;DR: A broad-scope overview provides an integrative approach for considering the implications of COVID-19 for work, workers, and organizations while also identifying issues for future research and insights to inform solutions.
Abstract: The impacts of COVID-19 on workers and workplaces across the globe have been dramatic. This broad review of prior research rooted in work and organizational psychology, and related fields, is intended to make sense of the implications for employees, teams, and work organizations. This review and preview of relevant literatures focuses on (a) emergent changes in work practices (e.g., working from home, virtual teamwork) and (b) emergent changes for workers (e.g., social distancing, stress, and unemployment). In addition, potential moderating factors (demographic characteristics, individual differences, and organizational norms) are examined given the likelihood that COVID-19 will generate disparate effects. This broad-scope overview provides an integrative approach for considering the implications of COVID-19 for work, workers, and organizations while also identifying issues for future research and insights to inform solutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
654 citations
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TL;DR: It is found that mothers with young children have reduced their work hours four to five times more than fathers, indicating yet another negative consequence of the COVID‐19 pandemic, highlighting the challenges it poses to women's work hours and employment.
Abstract: School and daycare closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have increased caregiving responsibilities for working parents As a result, many have changed their work hours to meet these growing demands In this study, we use panel data from the US Current Population Survey to examine changes in mothers' and fathers' work hours from February through April, 2020, the period of time prior to the widespread COVID-19 outbreak in the US and through its first peak Using person-level fixed effects models, we find that mothers with young children have reduced their work hours four to five times more than fathers Consequently, the gender gap in work hours has grown by 20 to 50 percent These findings indicate yet another negative consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the challenges it poses to women's work hours and employment
641 citations
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TL;DR: This policy brief builds on recent work on the care economy to explore implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and opportunities for addressing the burden of unpaid care work.
Abstract: While women were already doing most of the world’s unpaid care work prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging research suggests that the crisis and its subsequent shutdown response have...
567 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors bring together evidence from various data sources and the most recent studies to describe what we know so far about the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on inequalities across several key domains of life, including employment and ability to earn, family life and health.
Abstract: This paper brings together evidence from various data sources and the most recent studies to describe what we know so far about the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on inequalities across several key domains of life, including employment and ability to earn, family life and health We show how these new fissures interact with existing inequalities along various key dimensions, including socio-economic status, education, age, gender, ethnicity and geography We find that the deep underlying inequalities and policy challenges that we already had are crucial in understanding the complex impacts of the pandemic itself and our response to it, and that the crisis does in itself have the potential to exacerbate some of these pre-existing inequalities fairly directly Moreover, it seems likely that the current crisis will leave legacies that will impact inequalities in the long term These possibilities are not all disequalising, but many are
495 citations