Social Economists Discuss Lessons from and Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis

Workshop

ZEW Workshop on Economic Research Dedicated to Overcoming the Pandemic

Nearly 75 guests from all over the world attended the ZEW workshop on economic research for coping with the pandemic.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic, ZEW Mannheim’s Research Department “Social Policy and Redistribution” organised a workshop that focused on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis and how to respond to it through economic research.

On 27 and 28 January 2021, almost 75 guests from all over the world listened to the twelve presentations dealing with the various challenges of the current pandemic and discussed them afterwards. The presentations were selected to include findings from different economic research fields and different countries in order to cover as many areas as possible.

The focus was on the following fields:

  • Modelling of individual behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Macro-economic aspects of the pandemic, e.g. impact on credit allocations
  • Impact on the labour market and mental health
  • Effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical approaches, such as mobile work and work-from-home arrangements

The speakers gave interesting insights into their research and shed light on the different dimensions, challenges and approaches to tackling the ongoing pandemic. They emphasised that all these fields should not be considered in isolation from each other and that individual behaviour is just as important as political solutions when it comes to overcoming the COVID-19 crisis.

In lively discussions, the participants shared their experiences and views on the pandemic. They agreed that it continues to pose major challenges to society and that high quality research with sufficient data from a variety of sources is essential to find appropriate solutions.

Additional Information

Contact

Scientific Contact
Sebastian Seitz
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