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  • 2020
  • Working Paper

Socioeconomic Network Heterogeneity and Pandemic Policy Response

By: Abhishek Nagaraj, Mohammad Akbarpour, Cody Cook, Aude Marzuoli, Simon Mongey, Matteo Saccarola, Pietro Tebaldi, Shoshana Vasserman and Hanbin Yang
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

We develop and implement a heterogeneous-agents network-based empirical model to analyze alternative policies during a pandemic outbreak. We combine several data sources, including information on individuals’ mobility and encounters across metropolitan areas, information on health records for millions of individuals, and information on the possibility to be productive while working from home. This rich combination of data sources allows us to build a framework in which the severity of a disease outbreak varies across locations and industries, and across individuals who differ by age, occupation, and preexisting health conditions. We use this framework to analyze the impact of different social distancing policies in the context of the COVID-19 outbreaks across US metropolitan areas. Our results highlight how outcomes vary across areas in relation to the underlying heterogeneity in population density, social network structures, population health, and employment characteristics. We find that policies by which individuals who can work from home continue to do so, or in which schools and firms alternate schedules across different groups of students and employees, can be effective in limiting the health and healthcare costs of the pandemic outbreak while also reducing employment losses.

Keywords

Health Pandemics; Policy; Outcome Or Result; Analysis

Citation

Nagaraj, Abhishek, Mohammad Akbarpour, Cody Cook, Aude Marzuoli, Simon Mongey, Matteo Saccarola, Pietro Tebaldi, Shoshana Vasserman, and Hanbin Yang. "Socioeconomic Network Heterogeneity and Pandemic Policy Response." Working Paper, June 2020.
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About The Author

Abhishek Nagaraj

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

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    SafeGraph: Selling Data as a Service

    By: Ramana Nanda, Abhishek Nagaraj and Allison Ciechanover
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    Social Influence in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Community Establishments’ Closure Decisions Follow Those of Nearby Chain Establishments

    By: Abhishek Nagaraj, Mathijs de Vaan, Saqib Mumtaz and Sameer Srivastava
    • September 22, 2020
    • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

    Improving Data Access Democratizes and Diversifies Science

    By: Abhishek Nagaraj, Mathijs de Vaan and Esther Shears
More from the Authors
  • SafeGraph: Selling Data as a Service By: Ramana Nanda, Abhishek Nagaraj and Allison Ciechanover
  • Social Influence in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Community Establishments’ Closure Decisions Follow Those of Nearby Chain Establishments By: Abhishek Nagaraj, Mathijs de Vaan, Saqib Mumtaz and Sameer Srivastava
  • Improving Data Access Democratizes and Diversifies Science By: Abhishek Nagaraj, Mathijs de Vaan and Esther Shears
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