Essays on charitable fundraising, optimal health policy and economic inequality

Pang, Haokun (2025). Essays on charitable fundraising, optimal health policy and economic inequality. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The thesis consists of three chapters, each of which is an independent paper. Chapter 1 is an empirical paper focusing on charitable fundraising during pan- demics. Using Chinese data, I discuss whether charitable organizations react in response to a natural disaster or to co-existing government initiatives. Chapters 2 and 3 both delve into epidemiological macroeconomics. In Chapter 2, we apply deep-learning dynamic programming to solve epidemiological economic models under a representative agent framework. We address the question of whether the choice of epidemiological model matters in policymaking. We compare the optimal health policy functions and the dynamics between models with different assumptions on epidemiological dynamics. Chapter 3 is the main contributing paper in this thesis. We drop the representative agent assumption in the canonical epidemiological economic model and focus on the inequality problem during pandemics. A SIRS model is integrated into the Heterogeneous Agent Continuous Time Framework (HACT) to study the optimal precautionary and recuperative behaviours for individuals and the dynamics of wealth-health distribution during pandemics. This extends the canonical heterogeneous agent framework to include partial insurance against productivity shocks. The analysis of the joint evolution of infection rates and economic variables allows us to see how health, income, and wealth inequalities change during pandemics.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):