Internal and External Effects of Social Distancing in a Pandemic

Abstract

as well as numerous seminar participants. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Maryam Farboodi has received financial support from MIT for this research.NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

Asocial capital: Civic culture and social distancing during COVID-19

“…We find that people reduced their own mobility voluntarily immediately after information about the outbreak became public and before any government policy was adopted. This is consistent with individuals engaging in social distancing to reduce their own risk of contagion, as emphasized by Cochrane (2020), Farboodi and Shimer (2020), and Toxvaerd (2020). Importantly, the decline in mobility over this period was more pronounced in provinces with higher civic capital than in the others.…”

“…Indeed, as shown by Farboodi and Shimer (2020) the former province of Gorizia 2 . For each province the data distinguish between trips that started and ended in the province (local movements), trips that started in the province and ended in other provinces (outgoing), and trips that ended in the province and started in other provinces (incoming).…”

Tracking R of COVID-19: A new real-time estimation using the Kalman filter

“…This finding shows a clear change in people’s behavior in the early days of the pandemic. Shifting habits before the introduction of NPIs is consistent with the existence of private motives that can induce a reduction in mobility as people avoid becoming infected [ 48 – 50 ]. Our results are also consistent with empirical evidence for the U.S and anecdotal reports from Sweden [ 48 , 51 ].…”

“…Shifting habits before the introduction of NPIs is consistent with the existence of private motives that can induce a reduction in mobility as people avoid becoming infected [ 48 – 50 ]. Our results are also consistent with empirical evidence for the U.S and anecdotal reports from Sweden [ 48 , 51 ]. The documented relationship between and mobility does not necessarily constitute evidence against the effectiveness of lockdowns.…”

Mathematical Modeling of Coronavirus Reproduction Rate with Policy and Behavioral Effects

“…It was argued by the economists that many of the parameters controlling the move among compartments are not structural however it depends on individual decisions and policies. For example, according to Eichenbaum et al [20] and Farboodi, Jarosch and Shimer [21], the number of new infections is a function of the endogenous labor supply and consumption choices of individuals which is determined by the rate of contact and by the standard decision theory models where the rate of contact is amenable. Similarly, the death rates and recovery rates are not just clinical parameters.…”