Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/246682 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
School of Economics Discussion Papers No. 2002
Publisher: 
University of Kent, School of Economics, Canterbury
Abstract: 
Motivated by the Covid-19 epidemic, we analyse a SIR model of an epidemic but with endogenous social distancing, and calibrate it to UK data to study various hypothetical scenarios of government intervention regarding social distancing. We explicitly take into account that (a) there is heterogeneity in the population in terms of infection-induced fatality rates and thereby private decisions on social distancing, and that (b), due to limited resources available for health services, mortality rates may depend on the stock of infected people who become seriously ill because of the infection. Simulations based on our calibrated model suggest that lockdown policies that shut down some of the essential sectors have a stronger impact on the death toll than on the evolution of infections and the level of "herd immunity" compared to policies that shut down non-essential sectors, and vice versa. Finally, there might not be an after-wave after lockdown policies that shut down some of the essential sectors are lifted.
Subjects: 
COVID-19
Epidemiology
SIR model
Social Distancing
Externalities
JEL: 
C61
C72
C73
H41
I12
I18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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