Lockdown Accounting

Abstract We use an accounting framework to evaluate the aggregate impact of a common lockdown policy for 85 countries. find that poorer countries devote more labor essential activities are unaffected by lockdown, while richer can easily substitute non-essential employment with work from home. The generates response is U-shaped in income: it drops 32% poorest quintile distribution, 36% middle quintile, and 31% richest quintile. Annualized GDP declines 39% bottom three quintiles Agriculture, sector, key sustaining economic activity