What Businesses Should Reopen First? MIT Researchers Highlight the Risks
As governors and local policymakers wrestle with how to stage the reopening of their states' economies in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions abound. Which businesses are the most essential to the economy and social well-being? Which locations should reopen first—and which should be last?
A new working paper from the MIT Sloan School of Management provides answers. Using location data from a large sample of smartphones, nationally representative consumer preference surveys, and government statistics, the paper analyzes the tradeoffs between the transmission risk of the coronavirus and the social and economic benefits of reopening different kinds of businesses, schools and public spaces.