No abstract

Digital contact tracing is a promising digital public health intervention to manage epidemics. However, in order to reach its full potential, the technology has to be widely adopted and used. During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, this has not necessarily been the case. We review the literature with a focus on how participation in digital contact tracing could be fostered and provide policy recommendations on how to increase its adoption and usage as well as recommendations for further research.

We test the effects of uncertainty on market liquidity using Hurricane Sandy as a natural experiment. Given the unprecedented strength, scale and nature of the storm, the potential damages of a landfall near the Greater New York area were unpredictable and therefore uncertain. Using a difference-indifferences setting, we compare the market reactions of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) with and without properties in the widely-published evacuation zone of New York City prior to landfall. We find relatively less trading and wider bid-ask spreads in affected REITs. The results confirm theory on the detrimental effects of uncertainty on market functioning.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has made all the more clear that public health is a public good. Public health interventions try to encourage contributions to this public good. Digital public health interventions are increasingly being used to complement traditional public health interventions. The rollout of digital contact tracing apps during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is a prominent example. We review the literature on how participation in such digital public health interventions could be fostered, provide an overview of digital contact tracing as one such intervention, provide policy recommendations on how to increase its adoption and usage as well as recommendations for further research.

No abstract