Rationing Social Contact During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This seminar, led by Seth G. Benzell, summarizes findings from Rationing Social Contact During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Transmission risk and social benefits of US locations. In the paper, Seth G. Benzel, Avinash Collis, and Christos Nicolaides examine how rationing social contact during COVID-19 was beneficial and the social costs involved.

Informing Public Policy: Determining low-risk, high-value public spaces

Social distancing has forced the closure of some establishments and public spaces, while others remain open. These decisions are made based on the risk of transmission versus the social and economic consequences of these restrictions. The aim of the study is to inform policy and decision-making on which businesses and public spaces to open post-lockdown based on a risk and reward analysis.

How Placekey enabled research on the impact of social distancing during COVID-19

Their research centered on location-types, which was made possible by Placekey and SafeGraph location and mobility data. Point of interest (POI) data is categorized by industry, enabling intricate analysis.

Pairing POI and visitation data provided by Placekey and SafeGraph with other public data allowed them to analyze the social cost and transmission reduction benefit of closing 26 different categories of United States locations (such as shops, entertainment, and service providers).

To learn how you can use Placekey’s universal identifier for any location, which can allow you to map, track, and analyze POIs, join the SafeGraph community!