Working Paper

Tractable Epidemiological Models for Economic Analysis

Martín Gonzalez-Eiras, Dirk Niepelt
CESifo, Munich, 2020

CESifo Working Paper No. 8342

We contrast the canonical epidemiological SIR model due to Kermack and McKendrick (1927) with more tractable alternatives that offer similar degrees of “realism” and exibility. We provide results connecting the different models which can be exploited for calibration purposes. We use the expected spread of Covid-19 in the United States to exemplify our results.

CESifo Category
Public Finance
Empirical and Theoretical Methods
Keywords: epidemiology, SIR model, logistic model, Covid-19
JEL Classification: I180