Identity During a Pandemic: COVID-19 and Ethnic Divisions in the United States

Abstract

During a crisis, does a community's ethnic composition influence policy efficiency? How do the effects of ethnic divisions differ from those of ethnic diversity? Despite the large body of work which considers ethnic composition, little attention has been given to how it matters for crisis-response policy. Using the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, we show that ethnic divisions, rather than ethnic diversity, significantly reduce the efficacy of crisis response. U.S. counties with high levels of ethnic divisions fared worse than their less-divided counterparts after lockdowns in both COVID-19 cases and related deaths. Ethnic diversity had little effect, except in areas with high racial segregation. Crisis-response policies led to smaller mobility reductions and less mask-wearing in ethnically divided counties. These results are not driven by a lack of physical public goods, socioeconomic differences, or by the prevalence of high-risk populations. Findings are robust to various strategies of causal identification and falsification checks. Our results suggest that policies promoting ethnic and racial integration can allay the negative social and economic impacts of crises.