The Economics of Viral Outbreaks

Abstract

The frequency and complexity of viral outbreaks is increasing over time. The economic costs of outbreaks are severe; this is not only because of increased morbidity and mortality but also because viral outbreaks--representing aggregate health shocks--can severely restrict social interaction and economic exchange. Such aggregate health shocks lead to behavioral and prevalence responses along many margins. We describe some important response channels, discuss emerging empirical results on these margins from a nascent literature, and stress important avenues for future work.