Abstract
There has been a global surge in domestic violence (DV) during the pandemic. We identify impacts of lockdown imposition and lockdown removal on measures of incidence and reporting using Chilean administrative data. Chile provides a good laboratory for this analysis because lockdown was staggered across its 346 municipalities. We defend the identifying assumption that the timing of lockdown is quasi-random and obtain estimates of dynamic effects that are unbiased under treatment effect heterogeneity. We find an increase in incidence alongside a decrease in reports to the police. Investigating mechanisms, we find evidence consistent with mobility restrictions and job loss being exacerbated by lockdown and contributing to the increase in DV. We estimate that formal job loss may explain around 10 percent of the sharp rise in DV distress calls. We observe ratchet effects, with the lifting of lockdown only partially reversing the spike in distress calls and employment. Our findings accentuate the controversy around welfare impacts of lockdown imposition
Speaker: Damian Clark (University of Chile)
Discussant: Pinar Keskin (Wellesley College)
Chair: Rossella Verzulli (University of Bologna)