Using firm-level timesheet data from Homebase, researchers concentrate on businesses operating in the U.S. in the last two weeks of January 2020 and how their hours changed in the following months. They find that all hours dropped dramatically in March, particularly in NY, NJ, and CT (three states among the hardest hit by the first wave of COVID-19). Most of this change was from a reduction in firms and employees themselves, rather than individual employees working fewer hours.
Abstract and Citation
The Effects of the Coronavirus on Hours of Work in Small Businesses Joseph Altonji, Zara Contractor, Lucas Finamor, Ryan Haygood, Ilse Lindenlaub, Costas Meghir, Cormac O'Dea, Dana Scott, Liana Wang and Ebonya Washington1 Tobin Center for Economic Policy Yale University June 11, 2020