The conflict between personal interests and group interests during a pandemic

Abstract

We use online experiments to study how the public behaves during a major public health event (e.g., a pandemic). For a new infectious disease, decisions by the public are highly dependent on the warning information that they receive. We study the impact of an early warning system and information intervention on public behavior. Early warning systems and different types of information sharing can be adapted to influence the decisions by the public between their own interests and the interests of society. Even when a pandemic is severe and it is more beneficial to stay at home for society, some people tend to continue working, leading to a more rapid spread of the pandemic. Once the pandemic is brought under control, a number of people may still avoid going to work, slowing economic recovery. We find that if the government does not intervene and direct people, they will behave selfishly, which is detrimental to the overall interests of society. By intervention, the government can improve the welfare of society.