Publication:
Costs and Trade-Offs in the Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Developing Country Perspective

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorLoayza, Norman V.
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-18T15:20:16Z
dc.date.available2020-05-18T15:20:16Z
dc.date.issued2020-05-15
dc.description.abstractThe world is experiencing the worst pandemic crisis in one hundred years. By mid-April 2020, more than 80 percent of countries around the world had imposed strict containment and mitigation measures to control the spread of the disease. The economic fallout has been immense, with dire consequences for poverty and welfare, particularly in developing countries. This Brief first documents the global economic contraction and its potential impact on developing countries regarding macroeconomic performance, poverty rates, and incomes of the poor and vulnerable. It then argues that the pandemic crisis may hurt low- and middle-income countries disproportionately because most of them lack the resources and capacity to deal with a systemic shock of this nature. Their large informal sectors, limited fiscal space, and poor governance make developing countries particularly vulnerable to the pandemic and the measures to contain it. Next, the Brief reviews recent epidemiological and macroeconomic modelling and evidence on the costs and benefits of different mitigation and suppression strategies. It explores how these cost-benefit considerations vary across countries at different income levels. The Brief argues that, having more limited resources and capabilities but also younger populations, developing countries face different trade-offs in their fight against COVID-19 (coronavirus)than advanced countries do. For developing countries, the trade-off is not just between lives and the economy; rather, the challenge is preserving lives and avoiding crushed livelihoods. Different trade-offs call for context-specific strategies. For countries with older populations and higher incomes, more radical suppression measures may be optimal; while for poorer, younger countries, more moderate measures may be best. Having different trade-offs, however, provides no grounds for complacency for developing countries. The Brief concludes that the goal of saving lives and livelihoods is possible with economic and public health policies tailored to the reality of developing countries. Since "smart" mitigation strategies (such as shielding the vulnerable and identifying and isolating the infected) pose substantial challenges for implementation, a combination of ingenuity for adaptation, renewed effort by national authorities, and support of the international community is needed. The lockdowns may be easing, but the fight against the pandemic has not been won yet. People and economies will remain vulnerable until a vaccine or treatment are developed. The challenge in the next few months will be to revive the economy while mitigating new waves of infection.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/799701589552654684/Costs-and-Trade-Offs-in-the-Fight-Against-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-A-Developing-Country-Perspective
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/33764
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/33764
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesResearch and Policy Brief;No. 35
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subjectCORONAVIRUS
dc.subjectCOVID-19
dc.subjectPANDEMIC RESPONSE
dc.subjectECONOMIC CRISIS
dc.subjectPOVERTY IMPACT
dc.subjectINFORMAL SECTOR
dc.subjectLABOR MARKET
dc.subjectFISCAL TRENDS
dc.subjectGOVERNANCE
dc.subjectLOCKDOWN
dc.subjectSOCIAL DISTANCING
dc.subjectSOCIAL COMPRESSION
dc.subjectVULNERABILITY
dc.subjectLIVELIHOODS
dc.subjectMACROECONOMIC MODEL
dc.subjectPUBLIC HEALTH POLICY
dc.subjectECONOMIC RECOVERY
dc.subjectCOMPLIANCE
dc.titleCosts and Trade-Offs in the Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemicen
dc.title.subtitleA Developing Country Perspectiveen
dc.typePolicy Noteen
dc.typeDocument de politique généralefr
dc.typeDocumento de políticases
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleCosts and Trade-Offs in the Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic
okr.date.disclosure2020-05-15
okr.doctypeEconomic & Sector Work
okr.doctypeEconomic & Sector Work::Policy Note
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/799701589552654684/Costs-and-Trade-Offs-in-the-Fight-Against-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-A-Developing-Country-Perspective
okr.guid799701589552654684
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/33764
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum090224b087950d38_3_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum32039405
okr.identifier.report148535
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/799701589552654684/pdf/Costs-and-Trade-Offs-in-the-Fight-Against-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-A-Developing-Country-Perspective.pdfen
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Disease Control & Prevention
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Public Health Promotion
okr.topicMacroeconomics and Economic Growth::Economic Growth
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Inequality
okr.topicPoverty Reduction::Living Standards
okr.topicSocial Protections and Labor::Employment and Unemployment
okr.topicMacroeconomics and Economic Growth::Macroeconomic Management
okr.topicMacroeconomics and Economic Growth::Business Cycles and Stabilization Policies
okr.unitDECRG: Macroeconomics & Growth (DECMG)
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Costs-and-Trade-Offs-in-the-Fight-Against-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-A-Developing-Country-Perspective.pdf
Size:
865.78 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Costs-and-Trade-Offs-in-the-Fight-Against-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-A-Developing-Country-Perspective.txt
Size:
161.89 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download
Collections
Policy Notes