Are You Enjoying Your Neighbors During the Lockdown? Disputes between Neighbors in Mexican Cities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

We estimate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on disputes between neighbors using a panel of 70 cities from across Mexico. Our measures of conflicts between neighbors include noise, nuisance pets, unruly children, garbage, and gossip. Using a difference-in-difference strategy, our findings indicate that the lockdown increased conflicts arising between neighbors. We find the lockdown exacerbated disputes related to noise by 42%, unruly children by 35%, garbage by 32%, and gossip by 19%. While the lockdown limited interpersonal interactions on the streets, disputes between neighbors increased as individuals spent more time at home.