Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/236365 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14334
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Various forms of contact restriction have been adopted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Only recently, rapid testing appeared as a new policy instrument. If sufficiently effective, it may serve as a substitute for contact restrictions. Against this background we evaluate the effects of a unique policy experiment: on March 16, the city of Tuebingen set up a rapid testing scheme while relaxing lockdown measures-in sharp contrast to its German peers. Comparing case rates in Tuebingen county to an appropriately defined control unit over a four-week period, we find an increase in the reported case rate, robustly across alternative specifications. However, the increase is temporary and about one half of it reflects cases that would have gone undetected in the absence of extra testing.
Subjects: 
SIR model
number of tests
reported number of CoV-2 infections
COVID-19
(correcting the) bias
unbiased epidemiological severity index
JEL: 
I18
C23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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