This paper analytically examines the demand for surgical masks following the recent health precautions due to coronavirus. Using a simple linear demand curve and alternatively examining the impacts of requirements that mandate (a) the wearing of masks by frontline workers; (b) suggested but not required masking by the whole public; and (c) compulsory masking by the whole public. The impacts of the different scenarios on the price elasticity of demand are determined along with the slope (or the rate of change) of elasticity. Some of these results differ when a non-linear demand curve is considered instead. The equilibrium mask prices increase when masks are universally mandated, whereas the consumer surplus is higher when masks are recommended but not mandated. However, the ranking of consumer surplus is shown to be sensitive to the supply elasticity of masks. These considerations enable a structured means to view the demand implications of masking requirements and provide some food for policy thought.

中文翻译：

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揭露口罩需求：对强制佩戴冠状病毒口罩的分析


本文分析研究了最近因冠状病毒而采取的健康预防措施后对外科口罩的需求。使用简单的线性需求曲线，并替代地检查要求（a）一线工人佩戴口罩的要求的影响； (b) 建议但不要求全体公众佩戴口罩； (c) 全体公众强制佩戴口罩。不同情景对需求价格弹性的影响由弹性斜率（或变化率）决定。当考虑非线性需求曲线时，其中一些结果会有所不同。当普遍强制佩戴口罩时，均衡口罩价格会增加，而当推荐但不强制佩戴口罩时，消费者剩余会更高。然而，消费者剩余的排名对口罩的供给弹性很敏感。这些考虑因素使得能够采用结构化方法来查看屏蔽要求对需求的影响，并为政策思考提供一些依据。