Economics and Business
Quarterly Reviews
ISSN 2775-9237 (Online)
Published: 04 March 2024
Impacts of Inequality and Poverty on COVID-19 in Indonesia
Nur Setyowati, Nur Sabila Soraya Amalina
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology
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10.31014/aior.1992.07.01.565
Pages: 140-151
Keywords: COVID-19, Inequality, Poverty
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how inequality and poverty contributed to COVID-19 cases and mortality using panel regression. Design/methodology/approach: The data cover semiannual observations during the COVID-19 period spanning from 2019 to 2022 in 34 provinces in Indonesia. This study split samples into high- and low-inequality provinces and apply the fixed effect panel regression on COVID-19 cases and mortality. Findings: The results suggest that the effect of inequality on the spread of COVID-19 was greater in low-inequality provinces. Whereas poverty and unemployment positively influenced the total cases in high-inequality provinces. The variable of unmet health facility had a negative impact on COVID-19 cases, but education positively influenced COVID-19 cases. There were identical results for all the variables when looking at COVID-19 mortality, except for unemployment. Unemployment showed a positively significant influence on COVID-19 mortalities in all samples, whereas it only influenced COVID-19 cases in high-inequality provinces. Originality/value: the most crucial outcome of this study concerns the distinctive implications for different types of inequality and their impact on COVID-19.
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