The impact of COVID-19 on the labour market and the role of E-commerce development in developing countries: Evidence from Indonesia

This paper assesses the impact of covid-19 pandemic, measured through work mobility reduction, and e-commerce growth on the labour market using data from Indonesian labour force surveys and e-commerce transaction values. The findings confirm that the pandemic adversely affects workers' employment prospects, work hours, total earnings, and hourly earnings. E-commerce growth does not counteract the adverse impact of the pandemic as expected, but it plays a role as an employment buffer during the crisis, although it tends to suppress workers' earnings. Our results imply that more efforts are needed to improve the productivity of workers involved in e-commerce. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

[1]  Asep Suryahadi,et al.  The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Household Income, Consumption, and Expectations: Evidence from High-frequency Data in Indonesia , 2023, Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies.

[2]  Abel Brodeur,et al.  The short-term economic consequences of COVID-19: Exposure to disease, remote work and government response , 2020, PloS one.

[3]  Alessandra Casarico,et al.  The heterogeneous effects of COVID-19 on labor market flows: evidence from administrative data , 2022, The Journal of Economic Inequality.

[4]  Susan Athey,et al.  When Should You Adjust Standard Errors for Clustering? , 2017, The Quarterly Journal of Economics.

[5]  K. Sen,et al.  The Labour Market Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns: Evidence from Ghana , 2023, WIDER Working Paper.

[6]  Bernard Njindan Iyke,et al.  COVID-19, POLICY RESPONSES, AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIVITY AROUND THE GLOBE , 2021, Buletin Ekonomi Moneter dan Perbankan.

[7]  Asep Suryahadi,et al.  The Impact of Covid-19 and Social Protection Programs on Poverty in Indonesia , 2021, Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies.

[8]  Beyond Unicorns , 2021 .

[9]  A. Basole,et al.  Down and out? The gendered impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on India’s labour market , 2021, Economia politica.

[10]  G. Kalb,et al.  Regional Coronavirus Hotspots During the COVID-19 Outbreak in the Netherlands , 2021, De Economist.

[11]  E. Yeralina,et al.  The impact of the pandemic on the labour market , 2021, Bulletin of "Turan" University.

[12]  Della Temenggung,et al.  Managing Recovery and Seizing Reform Opportunities , 2021 .

[13]  Thomas Le Barbanchon,et al.  Job Search During the COVID-19 Crisis , 2020, Journal of Public Economics.

[14]  B. Churchill COVID‐19 and the immediate impact on young people and employment in Australia: A gendered analysis , 2020, Gender, work, and organization.

[15]  T. Dartanto,et al.  Indonesia Under the New Normal: Challenges and the Way Ahead , 2020 .

[16]  J. Borland,et al.  The Australian Labour Market and the Early Impact of COVID‐19: An Assessment , 2020 .

[17]  Thomas F. Crossley,et al.  The heterogeneous and regressive consequences of COVID-19: Evidence from high quality panel data , 2020, Journal of Public Economics.

[18]  T. Lemieux,et al.  Initial Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Canadian Labour Market , 2020, Canadian Public Policy. Analyse De Politiques.

[19]  Konstantinos Pouliakas,et al.  EU Jobs at Highest Risk of Covid-19 Social Distancing: Will the Pandemic Exacerbate Labour Market Divide? , 2020, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[20]  J. Gibson,et al.  Indonesia in the Time of Covid-19 , 2020 .

[21]  C. Meissner,et al.  Health vs. Wealth? Public Health Policies and the Economy During Covid-19 , 2020 .

[22]  D. Blanchflower,et al.  US AND UK LABOUR MARKETS BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19 CRASH , 2020, National Institute Economic Review.

[23]  Jonathan I. Dingel,et al.  How many jobs can be done at home?☆ , 2020, Journal of Public Economics.

[24]  J. Barrot,et al.  Sectoral Effects of Social Distancing , 2020, AEA Papers and Proceedings.

[25]  Guido Lorenzoni,et al.  Macroeconomic Implications of Covid-19: Can Negative Supply Shocks Cause Demand Shortages? , 2020, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[26]  Olivier Coibion,et al.  Labor Markets During the Covid-19 Crisis: A Preliminary View , 2020, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[27]  E. Oster Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence , 2019 .

[28]  Chris J. Manning Labour Market Adjustment to Indonesia's Economic Crisis: Context, Trends and Implications , 2000 .