Journal of Risk and Financial Management Article Financial Stress and Health Considerations: A Tradeoff in the Reopening Decisions of U.S. Liberal Arts Colleges during the COVID-19 Pandemic Jonah Tobin 1, Oliver Hall 1, Jacob Lazris 2 and David Zimmerman 3,4,* 1 Class of 2023, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA;
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[email protected] (O.H.) 2 Class of 2021, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA;
[email protected] 3 Department of Economics, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA 4 The College Crisis Initiative, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035, USA * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: This paper presents empirical evidence on factors influencing choices made by members of the Annapolis Group of Liberal Arts colleges regarding whether to operate primarily in-person, primarily online or some flexible alternative during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. This paper examines the tradeoff between public health risks and financial standing that school administrators faced when deciding reopening plans. Because in-person instruction at colleges and universities had large effects on COVID-19 case rates, it is critical to understand what caused these decisions. We used binary and multinomial probit models to evaluate an original data set of publicly available data as Citation: Tobin, Jonah, Oliver Hall, well as data from the College Crisis Initiative. Binary and multinomial choice model estimates suggest Jacob Lazris, and David Zimmerman. that conditional upon the prevailing level of COVID-19 in their county, financially distressed colleges 2021. Financial Stress and Health were approximately 20 percentage points more likely to opt for primarily in-person operations than Considerations: A Tradeoff in the less financially distressed colleges.