Public and private incentives for self-protection
Résumé
Governments sometimes encourage or impose individual self-protection
measures, such as wearing a protective mask in public during an epidemic. However, by reducing the risk of being infected by others, more
self-protection may lead each individual to go outside the house more
often. In the absence of lockdown, this creates a “collective offsetting
effect”, since more people outside means that the risk of infection is
increased for all. However, wearing masks also creates a positive externality on others, by reducing the risk of infecting them. We show
how to integrate these different effects in a simple model, and we discuss when self-protection efforts should be encouraged (or deterred)
by a social planner.
Domaines
Economies et finances
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
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