THE COST OF PRIVACY: WELFARE EFFECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE OF COVID-19 CASES

David Argente; Chang Tai Hsieh; Munseob Lee

doi:10.1162/rest_a_01095

THE COST OF PRIVACY: WELFARE EFFECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE OF COVID-19 CASES

David Argente, Chang Tai Hsieh, Munseob Lee

Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

South Korea publicly disclosed detailed location information of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. We quantify the effect of public disclosure on the transmission of the virus and economic losses in Seoul. The change in commuting patterns due to public disclosure lowers the number of cases by 60,000 and the number of deaths by 2,000 in Seoul over two years. Compared to a city-wide lockdown that results in the same number of cases over two years as the disclosure scenario, the economic cost of such a lockdown is almost four times higher.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	176-186
Number of pages	11
Journal	Review of Economics and Statistics
Volume	104
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01095
State	Published - Jan 6 2022

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Economics and Econometrics

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abstract = "South Korea publicly disclosed detailed location information of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. We quantify the effect of public disclosure on the transmission of the virus and economic losses in Seoul. The change in commuting patterns due to public disclosure lowers the number of cases by 60,000 and the number of deaths by 2,000 in Seoul over two years. Compared to a city-wide lockdown that results in the same number of cases over two years as the disclosure scenario, the economic cost of such a lockdown is almost four times higher.",

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AB - South Korea publicly disclosed detailed location information of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. We quantify the effect of public disclosure on the transmission of the virus and economic losses in Seoul. The change in commuting patterns due to public disclosure lowers the number of cases by 60,000 and the number of deaths by 2,000 in Seoul over two years. Compared to a city-wide lockdown that results in the same number of cases over two years as the disclosure scenario, the economic cost of such a lockdown is almost four times higher.

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THE COST OF PRIVACY: WELFARE EFFECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE OF COVID-19 CASES

Abstract

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