Information and Migrant Communities in the Pandemic

The behavior of populations is central for the containment of infectious diseases. Migrant communities from countries which have experienced a strong increase in infections may be more at risk of infection. However, they may also be more exposed to information on the severity of the disease and might adjust their behavior.Using a state-day panel constructed using US data, I propose indices that capture the exposure of migrant populations to deaths or cases in other countries and present empirical evidence on the beneficial role of migrant communities in the containment of infectious diseases. I find that indirect exposure to Covid-19 in Japan and Iran is negatively correlated with numbers of deaths and cases in the US. There is a positive effect of migrant exposure to Covid-19 in Italy. These relationships are unaltered when using high- and low-skilled immigrants. Exposure to Chinese newspaper mentions of the epidemic also correlates negatively with deaths. I attribute these relationships to behavioral adjustments due to cultural reasons and to recent experiences with SARS outbreaks