Image of

COSTA-i-FONT JOAN

Image of COSTA-i-FONT JOAN
London School of Economics and Political Science

webinar link: https://zoom.us/j/92825966612    


Joint with CERGAS

Title: Health and income inequality aversion after Covid-19


Abstract: We study whether individual aversion to health and income inequality has been altered as a result to the exposure to both the health and employment shock of the covid-19 pandemic in the UK, Italy and Germany (that differ in both the proximity to risk and direct exposure at the regional level). Furthermore, we compare the 2020 sample   with the 2016 sample of the UK to understand whether there have been changes in inequality preferences during the period. COVID-19 has given rise to both direct effects both on health and indirect effects on employment and income (redundancies, government replacement salary and unemployment). We specifically study the effect of personal shocks affecting employment, income and health which are directly linked to covid-19. We estimate measured of inequality aversion conditioned on individual’s health needs, the perceived probability of infection as well as individual’s income and their risk aversion. 


Bio: Dr Joan Costa-Font works as an Associate Professor (Reader) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and is a CESifo and IZA Research Fellow. Joan has been Harkness Fellow at Harvard University and has held honorary visiting  professorship appointments at Boston College and Oxford University, UCL, Paris Dauphine University and the Università Cattolica in Rome