Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets.
Policymakers around the world are enforcing mobility restriction policies such as lockdowns, facemask requirements and social distancing to curb the spread of Covid-19. While these policies are effective in preventing the spread of virus, the economic implications are not well understood. We contrib...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267160 |
| _version_ | 1811214628908171264 |
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| author | Hans R A Koster Jos van Ommeren Cheng Keat Tang Nander Bras |
| author_facet | Hans R A Koster Jos van Ommeren Cheng Keat Tang Nander Bras |
| author_sort | Hans R A Koster |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Policymakers around the world are enforcing mobility restriction policies such as lockdowns, facemask requirements and social distancing to curb the spread of Covid-19. While these policies are effective in preventing the spread of virus, the economic implications are not well understood. We contribute to the literature by examining the impact of these policies on the offline retail sector. Specifically, we measure the effects of these policies on the daily number of shoppers passing by, which we refer to as 'footfall', along major shopping streets in Netherlands. We rely on unique proprietary Wifi data to accurately measure footfall. Our findings imply that all these policies attribute to a non-trivial reduction in footfall levels along shopping streets. While lockdowns led to a 50% reduction in footfall along major shopping streets, shopping streets faced with facemask regulations also experience a 25% drop in human traffic. A reduction in footfall translates into a substantial reduction in retail income of between 12% and 25%. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T06:07:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f9131e93940c45e3a663d392ba0b5f0a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T06:07:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-f9131e93940c45e3a663d392ba0b5f0a2022-12-22T03:44:50ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01177e026716010.1371/journal.pone.0267160Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets.Hans R A KosterJos van OmmerenCheng Keat TangNander BrasPolicymakers around the world are enforcing mobility restriction policies such as lockdowns, facemask requirements and social distancing to curb the spread of Covid-19. While these policies are effective in preventing the spread of virus, the economic implications are not well understood. We contribute to the literature by examining the impact of these policies on the offline retail sector. Specifically, we measure the effects of these policies on the daily number of shoppers passing by, which we refer to as 'footfall', along major shopping streets in Netherlands. We rely on unique proprietary Wifi data to accurately measure footfall. Our findings imply that all these policies attribute to a non-trivial reduction in footfall levels along shopping streets. While lockdowns led to a 50% reduction in footfall along major shopping streets, shopping streets faced with facemask regulations also experience a 25% drop in human traffic. A reduction in footfall translates into a substantial reduction in retail income of between 12% and 25%.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267160 |
| spellingShingle | Hans R A Koster Jos van Ommeren Cheng Keat Tang Nander Bras Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets. PLoS ONE |
| title | Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets. |
| title_full | Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets. |
| title_fullStr | Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets. |
| title_short | Covid-19 restriction policies and shopping streets. |
| title_sort | covid 19 restriction policies and shopping streets |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267160 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hansrakoster covid19restrictionpoliciesandshoppingstreets AT josvanommeren covid19restrictionpoliciesandshoppingstreets AT chengkeattang covid19restrictionpoliciesandshoppingstreets AT nanderbras covid19restrictionpoliciesandshoppingstreets |