From Scarcity to Abundance: Government and Private Initiatives to Manage the Allocation of N95 Masks in the U.S. During the COVID-19 Pandemic / Paul L. Joskow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Joskow, Paul L.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w29876.

NBER working paper series no. w29876

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

This paper examines the structure, behavior and performance of the N95 respirator market in the U.S. before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-early 2022). It focuses on the behavior and performance of government and private sector organizations in the allocation of scarce supplies of N95 respirators during the pandemic in the U.S. The experience with the supply, demand, allocation, rationing, and pricing of N95s during the first two years of the pandemic provides instructive examples of how the public and private sectors can work in tandem with regulatory support rather than coercion to achieve widely accepted public health goals. Of particular interest is the adoption of voluntary private market segmentation, rationing and price maintenance policies during roughly the first year of the pandemic, led by the dominant U.S. manufacturer of N95s.

Notes:

Print version record

March 2022.