Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes

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COVID-19 High Frequency Phone Surveys in Latin America: Technical Note on Sampling Design, Weighting, and Estimation

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09) Flores Cruz, Ramiro

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) high-frequency phone survey (HFPS) 2020 was conducted in 13 Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru. It followed a panel sample over three waves of data collection in 12 countries and over four waves in Ecuador. All waves spanned from May to August 2020 and each wave’s collection period lasted about ten days on average. The survey was administered to one adult per household. Each respondent was presented with both individual and household-level questions. All national samples were based on a dual frame of cell and landline phones, and selected as a one-stage probability sample, with geographic stratification of landline numbers. The samples were generated through a random digit dialing (RDD) process covering all cell and landline telephone numbers active at the time of the sample selection. Survey estimates represent households with a landline or at least one cell phone and individuals of 18 years of age or above who have an active cell phone number or a landline at home.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Formal Firms in Honduras: Evidence from Monthly Tax Returns

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01) Bachas, Pierre ; Brockmeyer, Anne ; Semelet, Camille

We measure the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis and the resulting lockdown on formal firms in Honduras, using monthly value-added tax records for January 2018 to August 2020. Firms' revenue fell by 26 percent, or 342.6 billion lempiras (USD 14.3 billion), in real terms between March and August 2020 and the same period in 2019. Sectors subject to stricter containment measures experienced larger revenue losses. The service sector was the most severely affected, experiencing a 45 percent revenue loss. Larger firms experienced smaller revenue losses than smaller firms, even when accounting for the sectoral composition of firm-size groups. A non-negligible number of firms remained shut down until the end of available data in August 2020.
COVID-19 Geospatial Vulnerability Indices and the GeoLAC Repository for Geospatial Data

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-26) World Bank

The GeoLAC repository contains three maps of the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region that aim to inform policy (governments and the World Bank) around the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. These maps present three new vulnerability indices that tackle the following topics: (1) expected employment losses in local labor markets; (2) structural socioeconomic vulnerabilities at subnational levels to various forms of shocks (economic, health, etc.); and (3) socioeconomic vulnerabilities at subnational levels specific to the COVID-19 crisis.
COVID-19 in LAC: High Frequency Phone Surveys - Results Second Wave

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-07) Ballon, Paola ; Lara Ibarra, Gabriel ; Olivieri, Sergio ; Rivadeneira, Ana

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to preoccupy the population in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC), as do the pandemic’s economic ramifications. The willingness and or ability of people to follow the recommendation to stay at home began to noticeably tail off by the beginning of July. A gradual return to work is observed across all countries, although the situation remains less dynamic than before COVID. Among people re-engaged in the labor market, the majority are coming back to their pre-COVID jobs. Food insecurity has receded but continues to be a major issue for many families in the region. COVID has served to exacerbate existing disparities across the region with respect to medical care. Education continued in most cases thanks to distance learning. On most countries, over 90 percent of children were able to participate in distance learning activities during second wave.
COVID-19 in LAC: High Frequency Phone Surveys - Results First Wave

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06) Ballon, Paola ; Cuesta, Jose ; Olivieri, Sergio ; Rivadeneira, Ana

Unemployment is rising quickly and affected households are losing their main source of incomes. There is an obvious need for speeding up public intervention in the areas of virtual learning and access to medical attention and medicines across most vulnerable households. Reducing food consumption is the main mechanism to cope with the crisis for most households across the region. Despite a large rate of approval for governments’ interventions, lack of financial support to population, lack of enforcement or late response are the key area of public dissatisfaction. Unsurprisingly, there is a wide variation in abidance with lock-down measures mandated across countries. In countries like Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras, and Peru over 90 percent of the population report to respect and follow the lockdown.