Citation

Discussion Paper Details

Please find the details for DP14695 in an easy to copy and paste format below:

Full Details   |   Bibliographic Reference

Full Details

Title: An economic model of the Covid-19 epidemic: The importance of testing and age-specific policies

Author(s): Luiz Brotherhood, Philipp Kircher, Cezar Santos and Michèle Tertilt

Publication Date: May 2020

Keyword(s): age-specific policies, COVID-19, social distancing and Testing

Programme Area(s): Macroeconomics and Growth

Abstract: This paper investigates the role of testing and age-composition in the Covid-19 epidemic. We augment a standard SIR epidemiological model with individual choices regarding how much time to spend working and consuming outside the house, both of which increase the risk of transmission. Individuals who have flu symptoms are unsure whether they caught Covid-19 or simply a common cold. Testing reduces the time of uncertainty. Individuals are heterogeneous with respect to age. Younger people are less likely to die, exacerbating their willingness to take risks and to impose externalities on the old. We explore heterogeneous policy responses in terms of testing, confinements, and selective mixing by age group.

For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=14695

Bibliographic Reference

Brotherhood, L, Kircher, P, Santos, C and Tertilt, M. 2020. 'An economic model of the Covid-19 epidemic: The importance of testing and age-specific policies'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=14695