Impacts of Inequality and Poverty on COVID-19 in Indonesia

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how inequality and poverty contributed to COVID-19 cases and mortality using panel regression. Design/methodology/approach: The data cover semiannual observations during the COVID-19 period spanning from 2019 to 2022 in 34 provinces in Indonesia. This study split samples into high- and low-inequality provinces and apply the fixed effect panel regression on COVID-19 cases and mortality. Findings: The results suggest that the effect of inequality on the spread of COVID-19 was greater in low-inequality provinces. Whereas poverty and unemployment positively influenced the total cases in high-inequality provinces. The variable of unmet health facility had a negative impact on COVID-19 cases, but education positively influenced COVID-19 cases. There were identical results for all the variables when looking at COVID-19 mortality, except for unemployment. Unemployment showed a positively significant influence on COVID-19 mortalities in all samples, whereas it only influenced COVID-19 cases in high-inequality provinces. Originality/value: the most crucial outcome of this study concerns the distinctive implications for different types of inequality and their impact on COVID-19.