Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: objective changes and subjective evaluation in comparison to reference groups

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Henning Lohmann
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 501565283

The planned project investigates the individual affectedness by the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany from an objective and subjective perspective. In addition to objective changes in employment and income, we examine in particular the subjective evaluation, taking into account the individual's own position in comparison to reference groups. We investigate the question whether the objectively experienced or rather the perceived extent of economic impact, or the interaction of both, shape the view on the effects of the pandemic. Specifically, the project aims to address two questions: 1. How do objectively ascertainable factors such as illness, job and income losses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic affect the subjective assessment of economic affectedness and the perception of one's income position? 2. What role do comparisons with reference groups or points play in perceptions and evaluations of economic affectedness? The planned project uses panel data collected as part of an ongoing project on income perceptions, attitudes toward social policy, and redistributive preferences that began before the COVID-19 pandemic. A third wave was collected in 2021. During the course of the planned project, the dataset will be expanded to include a fourth wave. The data will be supplemented with county-level aggregate data to map pandemic and labor market trends, which will be linked to the panel data. In addition, data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP, SOEP-CoV) will provide an external reference for the self-collected panel data. Because of the extensive preliminary work and the continuing rapid change in the pandemic, the project is designed to run for a relatively short period of 18 months. It provides an opportunity to answer questions about perceptions and evaluations of the consequences of the pandemic based on data collected at different stages of the pandemic - and to a lesser extent before. With its focus on comparisons and reference groups it adopts a new perspective in research of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is deemed significant for assessing the longer-term societal impact of the pandemic.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants