Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • June, 2021
  • Article
  • Journal of Regional Science

Learning from Deregulation: The Asymmetric Impact of Lockdown and Reopening on Risky Behavior During COVID-19

By: Edward L. Glaeser, Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca and Benjamin T. Leyden
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:13
ShareBar

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, states issued and then rescinded stay-at-home orders that restricted mobility. We develop a model of learning by deregulation, which predicts that lifting stay-at-home orders can signal that going out has become safer. Using restaurant activity data, we find that the implementation of stay-at-home orders initially had a limited impact, but that activity rose quickly after states’ reopenings. The results suggest that consumers inferred from reopening that it was safer to eat out. The rational, but mistaken inference that occurs in our model may explain why a sharp rise of COVID-19 cases followed reopening in some states.

Keywords

COVID-19; Lockdown; Reopening; Impact; Coronavirus; Public Health Measures; Mobility; Health Pandemics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Consumer Behavior

Citation

Glaeser, Edward L., Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca, and Benjamin T. Leyden. "Learning from Deregulation: The Asymmetric Impact of Lockdown and Reopening on Risky Behavior During COVID-19." Journal of Regional Science 61, no. 4 (June, 2021): 696–709.
  • Read Now
  • Purchase

About The Author

Michael Luca

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • February 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Shanty Real Estate: Teaching Note Supplement

    By: Michael Luca
    • 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Black Ownership Matters: Does Revealing Race Increase Demand for Minority-Owned Businesses?

    By: Abhay Aneja, Michael Luca and Oren Reshef
    • January 23, 2023
    • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

    Digital Public Health Interventions at Scale: The Impact of Social Media Advertising on Beliefs and Outcomes Related to COVID Vaccines

    By: Susan Athey, Kristen Grabarz, Michael Luca and Nils Wernerfelt
More from the Authors
  • Shanty Real Estate: Teaching Note Supplement By: Michael Luca
  • Black Ownership Matters: Does Revealing Race Increase Demand for Minority-Owned Businesses? By: Abhay Aneja, Michael Luca and Oren Reshef
  • Digital Public Health Interventions at Scale: The Impact of Social Media Advertising on Beliefs and Outcomes Related to COVID Vaccines By: Susan Athey, Kristen Grabarz, Michael Luca and Nils Wernerfelt
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College