Global Mortality Benefits of COVID-19 Action

Yoo, Sunbin and Managi, Shusuke (2020): Global Mortality Benefits of COVID-19 Action. Published in: Technological Forecasting & Social Change No. 160 (November 2020)

Abstract

The rapid spread of COVID-19 motivated countries worldwide to mitigate mortality through actions including social distancing, home quarantine, school closures, and case isolation. We estimate the global mortality benefits of these actions. We use county-level data on COVID-19 from January 2020, project the number of mortalities until September 2020, and calculate the global mortality benefits using the age- and country-specific value of a statistical life (VSL). Implementing all four types of actions above would save approximately 40.76 trillion USD globally, with social distancing accounting for 55% of the benefits. The monetary benefit would be the largest in the US, Japan and China. Our findings indicate that global actions during COVID-19 have substantial economic benefits and must be implemented in response to COVID-19.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; global mortality benefit; value of a statistical life; epidemic diseases
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics; H - Public Economics > H8 - Miscellaneous Issues > H84 - Disaster Aid; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I10 - General; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I12 - Health Behavior; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy ; Regulation ; Public Health

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