Is a Requirement to Wear a Mask Economically Valid During COVID-19?

IF 0.3 Q3 LAW
Steve G. Parsons
{"title":"Is a Requirement to Wear a Mask Economically Valid During COVID-19?","authors":"Steve G. Parsons","doi":"10.6092/ISSN.2531-6133/13410","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Two of the most important categories of government intervention in response to COVID-19 are business closures and mask mandates. The scientific literature supports the efficacy of mask-wearing to reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses (including COVID-19). However, the efficacy is greater in stopping outbound transmission (meaning that my mask protects you) than inbound transmission (meaning that my mask protects me). Evidence suggests that the full benefits to society of wearing masks are far greater than the full costs to society of wearing masks. The author argues that mask-wearing is far more cost effective than business closures in controlling the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, the author argues that highly infectious diseases have an externality dimension. The person infected with COVID-19 makes a decision regarding whether to wear a mask based on their own perceived costs and benefits of mask-wearing, but that decision has consequences for those they come in contact with: the infected person’s decision not to wear a mask imposes costs on others that are external to the infected person’s decision process not to do so. The author further argues that some possible methods by which to deal with such an external cost (individual negotiations, a tax on spreading COVID-19, or as subsidy for wearing masks) are impractical. This makes a mask-wearing government mandate economically valid.","PeriodicalId":36563,"journal":{"name":"University of Bologna Law Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"University of Bologna Law Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.6092/ISSN.2531-6133/13410","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"LAW","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Two of the most important categories of government intervention in response to COVID-19 are business closures and mask mandates. The scientific literature supports the efficacy of mask-wearing to reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses (including COVID-19). However, the efficacy is greater in stopping outbound transmission (meaning that my mask protects you) than inbound transmission (meaning that my mask protects me). Evidence suggests that the full benefits to society of wearing masks are far greater than the full costs to society of wearing masks. The author argues that mask-wearing is far more cost effective than business closures in controlling the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, the author argues that highly infectious diseases have an externality dimension. The person infected with COVID-19 makes a decision regarding whether to wear a mask based on their own perceived costs and benefits of mask-wearing, but that decision has consequences for those they come in contact with: the infected person’s decision not to wear a mask imposes costs on others that are external to the infected person’s decision process not to do so. The author further argues that some possible methods by which to deal with such an external cost (individual negotiations, a tax on spreading COVID-19, or as subsidy for wearing masks) are impractical. This makes a mask-wearing government mandate economically valid.
新冠肺炎期间戴口罩的要求在经济上有效吗?
为应对新冠肺炎,政府干预的两个最重要类别是企业关闭和口罩强制令。科学文献支持戴口罩减少呼吸道病毒(包括新冠肺炎)传播的功效。然而,在阻止向外传播方面(意味着我的口罩保护你)的效果比阻止向内传播(意味着口罩保护我)的效果更大。有证据表明,戴口罩给社会带来的全部好处远远大于戴口罩对社会造成的全部成本。作者认为,在控制新冠肺炎传播方面,戴口罩比关闭企业更具成本效益。此外,作者认为高度传染性疾病具有外部性维度。新冠肺炎感染者根据自己认为的戴口罩的成本和收益来决定是否戴口罩,但这一决定对他们接触的人有影响:感染者不戴口罩的决定会给感染者不佩戴口罩的决定过程之外的其他人带来成本。作者进一步认为,处理这种外部成本的一些可能方法(个人谈判、对新冠肺炎传播征税或作为戴口罩补贴)是不切实际的。这使得政府强制要求戴口罩在经济上是有效的。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
University of Bologna Law Review
University of Bologna Law Review Social Sciences-Law
CiteScore
0.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
审稿时长
22 weeks
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信