Epidemics in an Integrated Global Society: An Economist’s View

When Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out in Hong Kong in 2003 some media outlets predicted economic calamity for the city. But by one financial measure -- real estate prices -- Hong Kong hardly suffered according to research by Grace Wong a Wharton real estate professor. In two papers titled ”Has SARS Infected the Property Market? Evidence from Hong Kong” and ”Is SARS a Poor Man’s Disease? Socioeconomic Status and Risk Factors for SARS Transmission ” Wong looks at SARS’ impact on real estate values and analyzes the role of income in determining who contracted the disease. Underlying her research is the recognition that in a global economy infectious diseases such as SARS will likely spread farther and faster as people travel all over the world in search of new business opportunities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.