Dr Flavio Toxvaerd (Economics, Clare)
The Economics of Infectious Disease
The polymath Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782) made path-breaking
contributions to the fields of economics and epidemiology. While they
developed as wholly separate scientific disciplines, an interesting
cross-fertilisation has recently taken place. Within epidemiology,
researchers have recognized that economic thinking can be useful in the
analysis of various important problems such as disease control (e.g.
immunisation or the encouragement of protective behaviour) and
forecasting the evolution of epidemics.
This is an exciting new branch of economics that is not only interesting at a theoretical level but also holds the promise of benefiting practical work on disease control. The control of commutable diseases is of first order importance and as such squarely belongs to the domain of public policy and public economics. I intend to delve further into this fertile ground of interdisciplinary research and contribute to both the academic literature and the associated policy debate.
Specific questions that can be fruitfully answered by use of the economics toolbox are questions such as:
• What is the optimal design of vaccination programmes? Should vaccination be voluntary or mandatory?
• What is the optimal allocation of scarce resources to battle infectious diseases? Should we concentrate on treatment or on protection?
• How does individual behaviour influence the rate at which STDs spread? How can individual behaviour be influenced through public policy?
This is an exciting new branch of economics that is not only interesting at a theoretical level but also holds the promise of benefiting practical work on disease control. The control of commutable diseases is of first order importance and as such squarely belongs to the domain of public policy and public economics. I intend to delve further into this fertile ground of interdisciplinary research and contribute to both the academic literature and the associated policy debate.
Specific questions that can be fruitfully answered by use of the economics toolbox are questions such as:
• What is the optimal design of vaccination programmes? Should vaccination be voluntary or mandatory?
• What is the optimal allocation of scarce resources to battle infectious diseases? Should we concentrate on treatment or on protection?
• How does individual behaviour influence the rate at which STDs spread? How can individual behaviour be influenced through public policy?
