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Economic Activity and the Value of Medical Innovation during a Pandemic

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  • Casey B. Mulligan

Abstract

The “shutdown” economy of April 2020 is compared to a normally functioning economy both in terms of market and nonmarket activities. Three novel methods and data indicate that the shutdown puts market production 25-28 percent below normal in the short run. At an annual rate, the shutdown is costing $7 trillion, or about $15,000 per household per quarter. Employment already fell 28 million by early April 2020. These costs indicate, among other things, the value of innovation in both health and general business sectors that can accelerate the time when normal activity resumes.

Suggested Citation

  • Casey B. Mulligan, 2020. "Economic Activity and the Value of Medical Innovation during a Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 27060, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27060
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    Cited by:

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    3. Rehse, Dominik & Tremöhlen, Felix, 2022. "Fostering participation in digital contact tracing," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. M. O. Oleche & D. K. Manda & R. G. Mutegi & S. Kipruto & M. K. Muriithi & P. Samoei & A. W. Ndirangu & G. Mwabu, 2023. "The gendered impacts of COVID-19 and business closure due to lockdown on wage employment in Kenya," Journal of Economic Policy and Management Issues, JEPMI, vol. 2(2), pages 31-48.
    5. James Broughel & Michael Kotrous, 2021. "The benefits of coronavirus suppression: A cost-benefit analysis of the response to the first wave of COVID-19 in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Casey B. Mulligan, 2021. "The Incidence and Magnitude of the Health Costs of In-person Schooling during the COVID-19 Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 28619, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Richard Gearhart & Lyudmyla Sonchak-Ardan & Nyakundi Michieka, 2022. "The efficiency of COVID cases to COVID policies: a robust conditional approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(6), pages 2903-2948, December.
    8. David Baqaee & Emmanuel Farhi & Michael J. Mina & James H. Stock, 2020. "Reopening Scenarios," NBER Working Papers 27244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Jin Fan & Hongshu Wang & Xiaolan Zhang, 2022. "A General Equilibrium Analysis of Achieving the Goal of Stable Growth by China’s Market Expectations in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-22, November.
    10. Casey B. Mulligan, 2021. "The Backward Art of Slowing the Spread? Congregation Efficiencies during COVID-19," NBER Working Papers 28737, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Christopher Cotton & Bahman Kashi & Huw Lloyd‐Ellis & Frederic Tremblay & Brett Crowley, 2022. "Quantifying the economic impacts of COVID‐19 policy responses on Canada's provinces in (almost) real time," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(S1), pages 406-445, February.
    12. Robert S. Pindyck, 2020. "COVID-19 and the Welfare Effects of Reducing Contagion," NBER Working Papers 27121, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Broughel, James & Kotrous, Michael, 2020. "The Benefits of Coronavirus Suppression: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Response to the First Wave of COVID-19," Working Papers 10632, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    14. Kong, Edward & Prinz, Daniel, 2020. "Disentangling policy effects using proxy data: Which shutdown policies affected unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    15. Xu, Yingying & Lien, Donald, 2022. "Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on price Co-movements in China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Rehse, Dominik & Tremöhlen, Felix, 2020. "Fostering participation in digital public health interventions: The case of digital contact tracing," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-076, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Croce, Mariano & Farroni, Paolo & Wolfskeil, Isabella, 2020. "When the Markets Get COVID: COntagion, Viruses, and Information Diffusion," CEPR Discussion Papers 14674, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. George Kapetanios & Nora Neuteboom & Feiko Ritsema & Alexia Ventouri, 2022. "How did consumers react to the COVID‐19 pandemic over time?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(5), pages 961-993, October.

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    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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