Discriminating Between the Side Effects of the Firm Behavior: Did We Import COVID-19?

Early COVID-19 presence and related deaths in Turkish cities can be explained by their international trade volume. Trade with China has a higher impact on the pandemic against the total international trade of cities. The ordering between imports, exports and total trade with China varies depending on the stage of the pandemic. As the China were sealed off by many countries, continuing international trade with the country has increasing impact on the case numbers. Key Words: COVID-19, City-level Data Analysis, International Trade. JEL Classification: C21, R15, F14, F68