An imperfect test for a virus can Be worse than No test at all

This note studies the effect of the availability of a test for a virus on the public health of a population. It is shown by example that the existence of a freely available and moderately informative test for a virus may lower society's welfare in comparison to the case where no test exists or access to the test is restricted. In this setting, any test provided to any subset of agents who would find it optimal not to isolate absent the test improves welfare.

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Year of publication:	2021
Authors:	Whitmeyer, Mark
Published in:	Health Economics. - Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, ISSN 1099-1050. - Vol. 30.2021, 6, p. 1347-1360
Publisher:	Hoboken, NJ : Wiley
Subject:	coronavirus \| COVID‐19 \| group testing \| information design

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Type of publication:	Article
Type of publication (narrower categories):	Article
Language:	English
Other identifiers:	10.1002/hec.4254 [DOI] hdl:10419/242000 [Handle]
Source:	EconStor

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012621803