The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Implications for Rural Economies

This paper presents a rapid assessment of current and likely future impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on rural economies given their socio-economic characteristics. Drawing principally on current evidence for the UK, as well as lessons from the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak and the 2007/8 fina...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jeremy Phillipson, Matthew Gorton, Roger Turner, Mark Shucksmith, Katie Aitken-McDermott, Francisco Areal, Paul Cowie, Carmen Hubbard, Sara Maioli, Ruth McAreavey, Diogo Souza Monteiro, Robert Newbery, Luca Panzone, Frances Rowe, Sally Shortall
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
Series:Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/3973
Description
Summary:This paper presents a rapid assessment of current and likely future impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on rural economies given their socio-economic characteristics. Drawing principally on current evidence for the UK, as well as lessons from the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak and the 2007/8 financial crises, it outlines the likely key demand and supply effects, paying attention to the situation for agriculture as well as discussing the implications for rural communities. A distinction is made between the effects on businesses offering goods and services for out-of-home as opposed to in-home consumption. Gendered dimensions are also noted as likely business and household strategies for coping and adaptation. The paper concludes with a brief mapping of a research agenda for studying the longer-term effects of COVID-19 on rural economies.
ISSN:2071-1050