COVID-19

UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaii: Foreign visitors will provide lift, but risks have multiplied

May 12, 2022

Hawaii’s recovery has resumed now that the Delta and Omicron waves are behind us. Once the Asian COVID-19 wave recedes, the long-awaited return of international visitors will begin later this spring. Hawaii’s delayed recovery from the pandemic means that we expect moderately strong growth, despite clearly deteriorating conditions in the US and global economies. The […]

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UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaii: With Omicron in the rearview mirror, a clearer road ahead?

March 5, 2022

The two COVID-19 waves since last summer caused a pullback in Hawaii tourism and a pause in labor market recovery. Visitor arrivals are now picking up and broader growth is resuming. The expected transition of the virus to an endemic disease will enable the return of international visitors. Considerable risks remain, including COVID-19 surprises, Fed […]

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HMSA gift of $1 million endows health economics professorship at UHERO

January 21, 2022

The Hawaiʻi Medical Service Association (HMSA) donated $1 million to establish the HMSA Distinguished Endowed Professorship in Health Economics at the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO) in UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences. The endowment will support UHERO’s research in the area of health economics. UHERO Executive Director Carl Bonham has worked closely […]

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Bird’s eye view of COVID-19, mobility, and labor market outcomes across the US

December 30, 2021

COVID-19 dealt a formidable blow to the US economy. We present a joint analysis of the epidemiological and labor market outcomes across US states. We focus on the relationship across relevant indicators in the pre-vaccination era. As expected, we find strong correlation between changes in economic conditions and mobility. However, mobility fluctuations tend to be […]

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UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaii: Recovery resumes, but Omicron looms

December 17, 2021

Economic recovery resumed with the end of Hawaii’s COVID-19 wave. Now Omicron is a new threat. Renewed international travel restrictions have reduced the near-term visitor outlook, but the eventual return of foreign tourists in 2022 will enable a broader industry upturn. Moderate job gains will continue, although labor shortages, the end of pandemic support, and […]

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Tourism Water Use During the COVID-19 Shutdown A natural experiment in Hawai‘i

November 1, 2021

Many of the most popular tourist destinations are on small islands whose resources are in limited supply, and the effects of climate change and increasing tourism tend to worsen the outlook. In this study, we identify the relationship between tourism and water use on the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu. Hawai‘i closed almost entirely to tourism […]

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UHERO Annual Report: Response to COVID-19

October 14, 2021

By the end of 2020, The University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization (UHERO) received $1.2 million in private support to fund critical economic research, and help Hawai‘i on the path to recovery. Donors include Hawai‘i Community Foundation, Bank of Hawai‘i Foundation, Kamehameha Schools, First Hawaiian Bank Foundation, DGM Group, Hawaiian Electric Industries Charitable Foundation, Hawai‘i […]

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The Efficacy of Hawaii COVID-19 Business Mandates

October 12, 2021

By Ruben Juarez, Alika Maunakea, May Okihiro, and Carl Bonham Despite the national attention around COVID-19 vaccination mandates for businesses, including President Biden’s recent announcement, the actual impacts on vaccination uptake have yet to be reported. In September, two counties in Hawaii implemented mandates for employees in select businesses to be either vaccinated or enroll […]

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UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaii: Delta wave swamps tourism, but return to recovery expected

September 24, 2021

Hawaii’s recovery has experienced a setback with the recent surge in COVID-19. Record virus numbers and preventive policy responses have caused an abrupt tourism pullback and are signalling a near-term decline in overall economic activity. While the Delta wave may now have turned the corner, we are in for a period of weakness before growth […]

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