Policy Choices and Contagion: The Covid Pandemic and the Climate Crisis

Behavioral contagion refers to how ideas and behaviors often spread in ways that resemble the spread of infectious disease. Exposure to others infected by a virus, for example, makes people more likely to become infected, just as people are more likely to drink excessively when they spend more time with heavy drinkers. But there are also important differences between the two types of contagion. One is the effect of visibility. Solar panels that are visible from the street, for instance, are more likely to stimulate neighboring installations. In contrast, we try to avoid others who are visibly ill. Another difference is that viral contagion is almost always a bad thing, but behavioral contagion can be either negative—as with smoking—or positive, as with solar installations. The seminar will discuss the policy choices we face when individually rational behavior is collectively irrational, as often happens under both types of contagion.

Schedule of Events

Welcoming Remarks - James Foster, IIEP Co-Director GWU

Series Description - Ann Florini, Professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, ASU

Speaker Introductions - Sunil Sharma, Distinguished Visiting Scholar at IIEP

Panelist Remarks - Robert H. Frank, Professor of Management and Economics at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management

Discussant Remarks - Roland Kupers, Professor of Practice at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, ASU

Q&A Moderation - Sunil Sharma, Distinguished Visiting Scholar at IIEP