The Economic and Social Impact of COVID-19 and Anti-Asian Hate on Chinatown and Low-skilled Chinese Immigrant Workers
Asian American businesses were especially hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic, and anti-Asian crime and violence increased. Sociologist Zai Liang and his team will examine the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic and anti-Asian hate on NYC’s Chinatown, with a focus on restaurant owners and workers. Using de-identified cell phone data, the investigators will examine trends in foot traffic into Chinatown before (February-June 2019) and during the pandemic (February-June 2020). They will also conduct a survey of Chinatown restaurant owners to examine how businesses fared during and after COVID, and the extent to which they were affected by anti-Asian hate incidents. They will measure job losses among Chinatown workers (who live in other boroughs) by those whose cell phone signals are observed for more than four hours in Chinatown restaurants during daytime. The investigators will ask respondents about their awareness of anti-Asian violence in NYC, if it reduced the volume of Asian American customers, and if they or their friends/colleagues/family members experienced anti-Asian incidents.