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  4. May 2021
  5. Behavior and the Transmission of COVID-19

Behavior and the Transmission of COVID-19

  • Andrew G. Atkeson
  • Karen Kopecky
  • Tao Zha
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 111, May 2021
(pp. 356-60)
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Abstract

A simple model of COVID-19 that incorporates feedback from disease prevalence to disease transmission through an endogenous response of human behavior does a remarkable job fitting the main features of the data on the growth rates of daily deaths observed across a large number of countries and states in the United States in 2020. This finding, however, suggests a new empirical puzzle: very large wedges that shift disease transmission rates holding disease prevalence fixed are required both across regions and within a region over time for the model to match the data on deaths from COVID-19 as an equilibrium outcome exactly.

Citation

Atkeson, Andrew G., Karen Kopecky, and Tao Zha. 2021. "Behavior and the Transmission of COVID-19." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 111: 356-60. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20211064

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I12 Health Behavior