Download This PaperPandemics and Economic Growth: Evidence from the 1968 H3N2 Influenza
22 Pages Posted: 10 Nov 2020
Date Written: 2020
Abstract
We evaluate the 1968 H3N2 Flu pandemic’s economic cost in a cross-section of 52 countries. Using excess mortality rates as a proxy for the country-specific severity of the pandemic, we find that the average mortality rate (0.0062% per pandemic wave) was associated with declines in consumption (-1.9%), investment (-1.2%), output (-2.4%), and productivity (-1.9%). Our main findings highlight the role of both negative demand-side and supply-side shocks in the flu pandemic’s aftermath.
JEL Classification: E650, I150, Q540
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Jinjarak, Yothin and Noy, Ilan and Ta, Quy, Pandemics and Economic Growth: Evidence from the 1968 H3N2 Influenza (2020). CESifo Working Paper No. 8672, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3727747 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3727747
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