COVID-19: How much unemployment was caused by the shutdown in Germany?

Abstract

"This paper evaluates the short-term labour market impact of the COVID-19 containment measures in Germany. By assessing the treatment effect on unemployment via difference-in-difference estimation, we find that 60% of the considerably increased inflows from employment into unemployment in April 2020 were due to the shutdown measures. Disentangling further, we find that the hiring margin accounted for additional 82% of the unemployment effect coming from the separations margin. In sum, the shutdown measures increased unemployment in the short run by 117,000 persons." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Bauer, A. & Weber, E. (2021): COVID-19: How much unemployment was caused by the shutdown in Germany? In: Applied Economics Letters, Vol. 28, No. 12, p. 1053-1058. DOI:10.1080/13504851.2020.1789544