Working Paper: NBER ID: w29876
Authors: Paul L. Joskow
Abstract: 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.
Keywords: N95 masks; COVID-19; allocation; public health; market behavior
JEL Codes: I18; L1; L11; L14; L21; L5; L81
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| government actions (H11) | price stability (E31) |
| private sector actions (L33) | price stability (E31) |
| government actions + private sector actions (H44) | stabilization of market prices (P22) |
| government actions (H11) | increased production of N95 masks (L69) |
| increased production of N95 masks (L69) | price maintenance (L42) |
| deregulatory actions (L51) | increased imports of N95-like respirators (F69) |
| increased imports of N95-like respirators (F69) | greater supply availability (Q11) |
| deregulatory actions (L51) | increase in strategic national stockpile of N95s (H56) |