Ahmedabad: The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) found that during the pandemic, households in the COVID-19 vulnerable areas of India invested more of their savings in gold than households in other districts.
According to the IIMA working paper titled "Gold in household portfolios during a pandemic: Evidence from an emerging economy," people in emerging economies are diversifying their holdings to include more gold and less cash.
Using the COVID-19 instances per 1,000 population and the satellite-based night-time lights intensity, the analysis released on IIMA's website on June 30 recorded the fluctuation in the intensity of the situation.—Inputs from Agencies