Association for University
Business and Economic Research

A national association of regional
economic research centers

Roundtable: Stay-In-Place Orders and Social Distancing Behavior During the Covid-19 Pandemic – Thursday, July 23 – 3 PM EST

View the PPT slides from Srikant Devaraj’s presentation here.

View the PPT slides from Erik Nesson’s presentation here.

Learn about the effectiveness of stay-in-place orders and the social distancing behavior of Hoosiers during the Covid-19 pandemic in a two-part roundtable tomorrow from 3-4 p.m. EST featuring two Ball State University economists.

Part 1: Effectiveness of Stay-in-Place-Orders during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from U.S. Border Counties

Abstract: Recent studies on U.S. counties show that stay-in-place-orders (SIPOs) are associated with a decline in new COVID-19 cases with varying effect sizes. We use a different estimation approach that relies on county-pairs across state-borders where one state has SIPO whereas the other state does not, from a sample of counties from southern, mid-western, and mountain region states. We find that daily COVID-19 incidence case growth rate is 1.99 percentage points lower for counties in SIPO states relative to those bordering in non-SIPO states.

Part 2: The COVID-19 Pandemic in Indiana: Documenting its Spread and the Social Distancing Behavior of Hoosiers

Abstract: Using locational data from individual cellphone users provided by the SafeGraph Corporation, we examine whether Indiana’s Stay at Home order and other events affected two aspects of social distancing: the percent of people who leave their homes on a given day and the number of visits to common points of interest (POIs), including gas stations, supercenters, and grocery stores. Social distancing, as we measure it, began well before Indiana’s stay-at-home-order, consistent with the idea that earlier information from elsewhere impacted social distancing behavior. In particular, social distancing, as we measure it, increased substantially following the first confirmed COVID-19 death in Indiana.

When: Thursday, July 23 at 3 p.m. EST

Featured Speakers: Srikant Devaraj, Research Economist and Research Assistant Professor, Center for Business and Economic Research, Ball State University, and Erik Nesson, Associate Professor of Economics, Ball State University and Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research

Moderator: AUBER Secretary-Treasurer Michael Hicks, Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research and the George & Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ball State University

Welcome Message: AUBER President Patrick Barkey, Director, Bureau of Business and Economic Research, University of Montana

About Srikant Devaraj

Srikant Devaraj, Ph.D., is a research economist and research assistant professor in the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at Ball State University. Devaraj earned a doctorate in economics from Indiana University, Indianapolis (IUPUI) in 2016 with fields in health economics and applied econometrics. His research interests lie in the areas of public policy, economic growth, regional economics, and health outcomes. View his full bio here.

About Erik Nesson

Erik Nesson is an Associate Professor of Economics at Ball State University and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research focuses on the health economics, law and economics, and labor economics. His research has been published in journals such as the Economic Journal, the American Economic Journal – Economic Policy, the Journal of Health Economics, and Health Economics, and has been covered by media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, National Public Radio, Yahoo Finance, the Atlantic, Forbes, and Bloomberg.

About Michael Hicks

Michael Hicks is the Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research and the George & Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ball State University. He’s held faculty positions at the University of Tennessee, Marshall University and the Air Force Institute of Technology. He is currently serving as AUBER’s Secretary-Treasurer. He is a retired infantry soldier and father of three.

About Patrick Barkey

Patrick Barkey has served as Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research since 2008. He has been involved with economic forecasting and policy research for more than 30 years, in both the private and public sectors. Barkey is AUBER’s 2019-2020 president. View his full bio here.

July 23, 2020