Webinar: Strong Social Distancing Measures in the U.S. Reduced the COVID-19 Growth Rate

Wed, Jun 3 2020, 12 - 1pm

Online

Join the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise, the Gatton College of Business and Economics, and the College of Public Health for the webinar "Strong Social Distancing Measures in the U.S. Reduced the COVID-19 Growth Rate" on June 3^rd, 2020.

The webinar will feature a discussion of new research demonstrating that social distancing measures imposed by state and local governments at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic were effective in slowing disease transmission, thereby saving lives. Presenters Dr. Charles Courtemanche and Dr. Aaron Yelowitz will share their research Strong Social Distancing Measures in the United States Reduced the COVID-19 Growth Rate. Discussants Dr. Teresa Water and Dr. James Ziliak will provide commentary on the paper and presentation.

The event is free and open to the public. Due to COVID-19 regulations, the event will be held virtually. Please join us via Zoom from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. To attend the webinar, CLICK HERE.

To watch the recording of this event, CLICK HERE.

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Webinar: Strong Social Distancing Measures in the U.S. Reduced the COVID-19 Growth Rate Flyer

Speakers

Charles Courtemanche Associate Professor of Economics, University of Kentucky Interim Director, Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise

Charles Courtemanche is an Associate Professor of Economics in the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky and Interim Director of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise. He is a health economist and applied microeconomist with particular research interests in the economics of obesity and nutrition, health insurance, COVID-19, and big box retailers. He has published 40 papers in a variety of journals including the Economic Journal, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Health Economics, Health Affairs, Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Economic History, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, and Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Agriculture, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Courtemanche is also lead editor of the Southern Economic Journal, a Research Associate in the Health Economics Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Research Affiliate with the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

Aaron Yelowitz Professor of Economics, University of Kentucky

Aaron Yelowitz is a professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Kentucky. He is also a joint faculty member in the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Kentucky and a senior fellow with the Cato Institute. He serves on the editorial boards for Journal of Labor Research, Public Finance Review, and Inquiry.
Dr. Yelowitz received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1994 and has previously worked at UCLA as an assistant professor. He also previously served as director of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise at University of Kentucky. Under his leadership, ISFE received $3 million gift from the Joseph W. Craft III Foundation. He has published articles in economics and health-related journals including the Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Health Affairs, Health Services Research, Health Economics, and Inquiry. He has taught graduate classes on public economics and health economics and undergraduate classes on health economics, labor economics, public economics, housing economics, and poverty and welfare programs.

Teresa Waters Professor and Wethington Endowed Chair in Health Management and Policy, University of Kentucky

Teresa Waters holds the Charles T. Wethington Jr. Endowed Chair in the Health Sciences and currently serves as Chair, Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health. She is also the Associate Dean for Research for the College of Public Health.
Dr. Waters earned her B.A. in Accounting at Dordt College (Sioux Center, Iowa, 1987) and her Ph.D. in Economics at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee, 1992). Her research focuses on health care financing and health policy. She is especially interested in innovations in health care delivery and payment, and has several funded research projects that focus on the implementation and impact of “value based payment” polices.
Dr. Waters joined the UK College of Public Health in December 2017. Prior to joining UK, she was on the faculty at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where she served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine.

James Ziliak Professor and Gatton Endowed Chair in Microeconomics, University of Kentucky

James P. Ziliak holds the Carol Martin Gatton Endowed Chair in Microeconomics and University Research Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Kentucky. He currently serves as Founding Director of the Center for Poverty Research. He previously served as Founding Executive Director of the Kentucky Federal Statistical Research Data Center and as assistant and associate professor of economics at the University of Oregon. Ziliak has held visiting positions at the Brookings Institution, Russell Sage Foundation, University College London, University of Michigan, and University of Wisconsin. He is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London, England. Ziliak's research expertise is in the areas of labor economics, poverty, food insecurity, and tax and transfer policy. He received a BS degree in economics and BA degree in sociology from Purdue University, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Indiana University.