Wen-Tai HsuHSUAN-CHIH LINHan Yang2024-10-152024-10-152023-0800142921https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85164330091&origin=resultslisthttps://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/722050This paper studies containment policies for combating a pandemic in an open-economy context. It does so via quantitative analyses using a model that incorporates a standard epidemiological compartmental model in a general equilibrium multi-country, multi-sector Ricardian model of international trade with input–output linkages. We quantitatively evaluate the long-run welfare and real-income losses due to the short-run pandemic shocks, and we study the role of trade in these effects. We devise a novel approach to computing national optimal policies. We find that (1) the long-run welfare and real-income losses due to just two years of pandemic shocks are substantial; (2) international trade helps buffer both the welfare and real-income losses, and it also saves lives; (3) the computed optimal policies indicate that most countries should have tightened their containment measures relative to what was done; and (4) compared to the case of autarky, the optimal policy under trade is generally more stringent.entrueCOVID-19Disease dynamicsEffective reproduction numberOpen economyOptimal containment policyPandemicTradeWelfare analysisjournal article10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.1045122-s2.0-85164330091