Social Distancing, Internet Access and Inequality During Global Pandemic

New research by an MIT Sloan expert measures the roles of income and the diffusion of high-speed Internet on people's ability to self-isolate during a global pandemic.

Catherine Tucker, the Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management at MIT Sloan, will discuss her new study, Social Distancing, Internet Access and Inequality, with TPI President and Senior Fellow Scott Wallsten. 

The research casts a wide net, tracking 20 million mobile devices and their movements across physical locations, and whether they leave their homes that day.

"We show that while income is correlated with differences in the ability to stay at home, the unequal diffusion of high-speed Internet in homes across regions drives much of this observed income effect," writes Tucker in the study's abstract.

"Devices in regions with either high-income or high-speed Internet are less likely to leave their homes after such a directive."