JUE Insight: Urban flight seeded the COVID-19 pandemic across the United States
Joshua Coven, Arpit Gupta, Iris Yao
Abstract
We document large-scale urban flight in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regions that saw migrant influx experienced greater subsequent new COVID-19 cases, linking urban flight (as a disease vector) and coronavirus spread in destination areas. Urban residents fled to socially connected areas, consistent with the theory that individuals sheltered with friends and family, or in second homes. Populations that fled were disproportionately younger, whiter, and wealthier. The association between migration and subsequent new cases persists when instrumenting for migration with social networks.
Topics & Concepts
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Pandemic2019-20 coronavirus outbreakSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)GeographyEconomic geographyDemographic economicsDevelopment economicsDiseaseEconomicsInfectious disease (medical specialty)BiologyMedicineVirologyOutbreakPathologyCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesMigration and Labor DynamicsCOVID-19 Pandemic Impacts