This paper offers a parsimonious, rational-choice model to study the effect of pre-existing inequalities on the transmission of COVID-19. Agents decide whether to “go out” (or self-quarantine) and, if so, whether to wear protection such as masks. Three elements distinguish the model from existing work. First, non-symptomatic agents do not know if they are infected. Second, some of these agents unknowingly transmit infections. Third, we permit two-sided prevention via the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions: the probability of a person catching the virus from another depends on protection choices made by each. We find that a mean-preserving increase in pre-existing income inequality unambiguously increases the equilibrium proportion of unprotected, socializing agents and may increase or decrease the proportion who self-quarantine. Strikingly, while higher pre-COVID inequality may or may not raise the overall risk of infection, it increases the risk of disease in social interactions.

本文提供了一个简约的理性选择模型来研究先前存在的不平等对 COVID-19 传播的影响。特工决定是否“外出”（或自我隔离），如果是，是否佩戴口罩等保护措施。三个要素将模型与现有工作区分开来。首先，无症状病原体不知道他们是否被感染。其次，其中一些病原体会在不知不觉中传播感染。第三，我们允许通过使用非药物干预进行双向预防：一个人从另一个人那里感染病毒的可能性取决于每个人做出的保护选择。我们发现，先前存在的收入不平等的均值保持增加明确地增加了未受保护的社交代理人的均衡比例，并可能增加或减少自我隔离的比例。引人注目的是，