Journal of Public Economics · 2025 · Kerwin Kofi Charles、Jonathan Guryan、Kyung H. Park
中文摘要
我们重新审视新冠疫情暴发后的头几个月,考察餐厅客流量是否揭示了针对族群的情绪变化。研究发现,位于亚裔聚居区内的亚洲餐厅就餐需求出现下降,而在聚居区之外,亚洲餐厅客流量的下降幅度与非亚洲餐厅相当。相比之下,在意大利疫情暴发的消息以及美国首例与赴意大利旅行相关病例出现之后,意大利裔聚居区的餐厅并未出现类似的客流量下降。我们还发现提示性证据,表明这一消费转移与对亚裔负面情绪的上升有关,而非出于避免接触国际旅行者的考虑。
Abstract
We revisit the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic to examine whether restaurant foot traffic reveals changes in sentiment towards ethnic groups. Our findings show reduced demand for dining at Asian restaurants located inside Asian enclaves, while outside enclaves, the decline in visits to Asian restaurants was comparable to non-Asian restaurants. In contrast, Italian restaurant enclaves did not experience similar declines in foot traffic after news of the outbreak in Italy and the first U.S. case linked to travel to Italy. We also find suggestive evidence that the shift in consumption was associated with elevated negative sentiment towards Asians rather than efforts to avoid exposure to international travelers.