Brian Beach, Karen Clay, Martin H. Saavedra: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its Lessons for COVID-19, in: NBER Working Paper Series, Working Paper 27673, August 2020.
In their article the authors review the global health and economic consequences of the 1918 influenza pandemic,with a particular focus on topics that have seen a renewed interest because of COVID-19. They begin by providing an overview of key contextual and epidemiological details as well as the data that are available to researchers. They then examine the effects on mortality, fertility, and the economy in the short and medium run. The role of nonpharmaceutical interventions in shaping those outcomes is discussed throughout. They then examine longer-lasting health consequences and their impact on human capital accumulation and socioeconomic status. Throughout the paper they highlight important areas for futurework.