Quantifying the macroeconomic impact of COVID-19-related school closures through the
human capital channel
This paper uses a new measure of human capital, which distinguishes both quality and
quantity components, to estimate the long-term effect of the COVID-19-related school
closures on aggregate productivity through the human capital channel. Productivity
losses build up over time and are estimated to range between 0.4% and 2.1% after 45
years, for 12 weeks and 2 years of school closure, respectively. These results appear
to be broadly consistent with earlier findings in the literature. Two opposing effects
might influence these estimates. Online teaching would lower economic costs while
learning losses in tertiary education (not considered here) would inflate them. Policies
aimed at improving the quality of education and adult training will be needed to offset
or, at least, alleviate the impact of the pandemic on human capital.
Published on October 17, 2022
In series:OECD Economics Department Working Papersview more titles