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Contagion Exposure and Protection Technology

Author

Listed:
  • Diego Cerdeiro

Abstract

People adopt diverse measures to protect from contagion. I propose a taxonomy of protection technologies, and present a model to study the implications of the technology on the prevalence of infections and on welfare at different levels of exposure. I find that the effect of aggregate exposure on prevalence and on protection ineficiencies depends crucially on the characteristics of the available protection technology.For example, under certain conditions the existence of a vaccine will lead to lower infection rates and smaller welfare costs of decentralization as the society becomes denser. I discuss the implications for disease eradication, the equilibrium consequences of antigenic drift, the desirability of interventions in the absence of universal vaccines, and coordination failures in protection.

Suggested Citation

  • Diego Cerdeiro, 2015. "Contagion Exposure and Protection Technology," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1557, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:1557
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities

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