Rutgers economist Bruce Mizrach is available to comment on a new Rutgers working paper that examines the re-opening of indoor malls in New Jersey, and in comparison to the re-opening of malls in Texas. The report analyzes data from SafeGraph, which anonymously draws data from smartphones and tallies visits to points of interest.

Mizrach said, “On June 29, indoor malls in New Jersey re-opened, and visits were up 19.2% during the first week. Large malls like Bridgewater Commons, the Garden State Plaza, and Menlo Park all rose by more than 100%. In contrast, COVID-19 cases in Texas never slowed and then grew exponentially after the re-opening of their malls. Mall visits during the week of June 29 were back to similar levels from the first week of the re-opening. Year-over-year, Texas mall traffic is down 55% while New Jersey’s are down just 34%.”

To view the full report, click here.

Mizrach is a professor in the department of economics at Rutgers. He is the founder and editor of Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics, which uses nonlinear analysis to understand economic and financial markets.

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