Agent-based Economic Epidemiology

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how important epidemiological models are to predict and explain the spread of infectious diseases. So-called agent-based models are particularly well-suited for this purpose. These computer simulations are widely used in epidemiology and are increasingly applied in economics. They are, however, strongly underrepresented in the field of economic epidemiology, which is located at the intersection of the two disciplines. One of the few existing agent-based approaches to economic epidemiology has been developed by Patrick Mellacher at the Graz Schumpeter Centre of the University of Graz. This model allows to simulate the economic and epidemiological consequences of the coronavirus under varying policy scenarios and emphasizes the heterogeneity in the population regarding economic, social and epidemiological characteristics. In this project, Helene Hinterreither and Patrick Mellacher will extend this model under the supervision of Christian Gehrke in three areas in order to shed light on new research questions: How does increasing the complexity of epidemiological dynamics in such models affect their policy advice? Which consequences and dynamics arise from so-called corona skepticism? Which socio-economic consequences are expected to result from the crisis on different groups of the population and especially on the situation of women in the short and in the longer run?