The economic impacts of the UK’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme

Gonzalez Pampillon, Nicolas, Nunez Chaim, Gonzalo and Overman, Henry G. ORCID: 0000-0002-3525-7629 (2024) The economic impacts of the UK’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme. Journal of Urban Economics, 143. ISSN 0094-1190

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Abstract

We evaluate the economic impacts of the UK’s Eat Out to Help Out (EOTHO) scheme on the food service sector. EOTHO was introduced during the COVID pandemic to stimulate demand by subsidizing the cost of eating out, with a 50% discount Mondays to Wednesdays in August 2020. We exploit the spatial variation in participation using a continuous difference-in-differences approach and an instrumental variables strategy. We measure the effect on footfall using mobility data from Google and on employment using job posts from Indeed. Our estimates indicate that a one standard deviation increase in exposure to the EOTHO scheme increased footfall in retail & recreation by 2%-5%, and job posts in the food preparation & service industry by 6%-8%. These effects are transitory, and we do not find evidence of large spillover benefits to non-recreational activities or other sectors.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	What Works Centre
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
JEL classification:	H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H29 - Other H - Public Economics > H3 - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents > H32 - Firm J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J23 - Employment Determination; Job Creation; Demand for Labor; Self-Employment L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L83 - Sports; Gambling; Recreation; Tourism
Date Deposited:	01 Jul 2024 15:45
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2024 23:13
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124044

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