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2023 | Book

An Introduction to Biopolitics and Shock Economy of COVID-19: Medical Perspectives and Socioeconomic Dynamics Read chapter Read first chapter

Biopolitics and Shock Economy of COVID-19

Medical Perspectives and Socioeconomic Dynamics

Editors: Nezameddin Faghih, Amir Forouharfar

Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland

Book Series : Contributions to Economics

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This edited volume discusses the biopolitics and shock economy of COVID-19, emphasizing medical perspectives and the socioeconomic dynamics of the pandemic and the ensuing institutional responses. Written by an international, multidisciplinary group of academic and professional experts, chapters embrace a wide range of topics such as: medical perspectives on COVID-19; application of geospatial technology; infectivity, immunogenicity, and disease as important factors for adoption of relevant biopolitical measures; shock economy; COVID-19-induced transaction costs; social support and resilience of inhabitants of marginalized areas; business resilience factors; entrepreneurship; and digital transformation. Jointly addressing global examples of biopolitical governance and overarching macroeconomic effects of the pandemic, this volume will be of interest to academics across disciplines as well as policymakers and practitioners on the ground.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
An Introduction to Biopolitics and Shock Economy of COVID-19: Medical Perspectives and Socioeconomic Dynamics
Abstract
This edited volume on the biopolitics and shock economy of COVID-19 crisis embraces a wide spectrum of topics such as shock economy, medical perspectives on COVID-19, application of geospatial technology, infectivity, immunity, and severity of the disease, as well as ontology of the disease emergence as important factors for adoption of relevant biopolitical measures, sociocultural obstacles, COVID-19-induced transaction costs, social support and resilience of inhabitants of marginalized areas, as well as business resilience factors, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation. Through each chapter of this book, the authors, with their expertise in the theme they picked, have attempted to unfold some emerging aspects in the COVID-19 crisis which could benefit not only the academics but also the institutional, social, economic, developmental, and health policy-makers as well as the health practitioners on the ground.
Nezameddin Faghih, Amir Forouharfar

Medical and Pandemic Overview of COVID-19

Frontmatter
Medical Perspective on COVID-19
Abstract
In December 2019, a series of acute respiratory illnesses were first reported in central China. Investigations have led to the identification of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), subsequently designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), as the causative agent of the so-called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since its emergence, SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly across the globe, resulting in the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of millions of people throughout the world and continues to do so. Beginning with a brief overview of different historical and contemporary theories of infectious diseases, this chapter moves on to review the most recent literature on the origin, structure, pathogenesis, host immune responses, viral evasion of the host immunity, and mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, patients’ clinical characteristics and risk factors, clinical trials, preventative measures, and the COVID-19 death toll among different countries are discussed. We also overview the utilization of various technologies in the battle against the pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on clinical research and trials, medical insurance, biomedical waste (BMW) generation and management, and the clinical lessons learned.
Pegah Hosseini-Nezhad, Sara Hosseini-Nezhad, Ahmad Hosseini-Nezhad
Advances in the Application of Geospatial Technology in the Mitigation of COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
This study explored geospatial technologies currently used by various researchers, industries, health professionals, etc., in the fight against the global pandemic of COVID19. The use of dashboards is among the prominent innovative geospatial mapping technologies implemented by several bodies such as the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (JHU CSSE) dashboard, WHO dashboard, HealthMap dashboard, etc. Dashboards have been useful in providing information on the dynamics of the pandemic spread. The use of geospatial big data and Web map viewers has also gained much ground. The application of various statistical and epidemiological models and tools has equally been utilized to simulate the dynamics of the pandemic in new dimensions. Time series model forecast has played a major role in the modelling of medical facilities, while location/allocation modelling has contributed to resources management for best sites to situate testing centres, emergency units, medical centres, etc. ESRI industry has also developed a number of innovative solutions in the context of indoor assessment of facilities for the new normal, airport smart strategies and mobile tracking technologies, etc. Geospatial technology is critical in the fight against the pandemic, and it is imperative to state that efforts to maximize the technology should be advocated. The study provided limitations to the applications of geospatial technology and recommendation.
E. C. Chukwuma, O. A. Nwoke, R. P. Haining, J. I. Ubah
The Ontological Nature and Cause of COVID-19: A Philosophical Analysis
Abstract
In this chapter, the ontological nature and cause of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is investigated. The outbreak of the novel COVID-19, coupled with the fact that a global pandemic occurs virtually every century, has brought to the fore the need to interrogate the ontological nature and cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been different conspiracy theories flying all over the globe about COVID-19 since its outbreak in Wuhan city of China and subsequent global spread. One matter of considerable public concern about the theories is the uncorroborated claim that the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is manufactured in a laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a biological weapon. This implies that the coronavirus is an artificial creation rather than a natural occurrence. Against this background, it is argued that the coronavirus is a natural phenomenon and that the resultant COVID-19, like other previous pandemics, is a privation of being. This chapter draws heavily on metaphysical works of Aristotle, Saint Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas to show that four types of cause, namely, material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause, are ontological components of every being in the natural world and that COVID-19 is not a being per se but rather a privation of being or good in a being. It is contended further that COVID-19 lacks a formal cause, and thus it cannot exist in isolation from a being (a human person or an animal) that has a formal cause. COVID-19 and other pandemics originally occur when a being is corrupted or its good nature is deprived of. It is concluded that to forestall further pandemic outbreak, humanity must stop upsetting and disrupting the natural order of things by desisting from eating certain animals and birds that are unfit for human consumption, or eating foods contaminated by such animals and birds.
Cyril Emeka Ejike

COVID-19 Shock and Socio-Economy

Frontmatter
Digital Transformation: Prior to and Following the Pandemic
Abstract
COVID-19 has negatively affected business operations and drastically threatened different ongoing organizational changes. Digital transformation has been considered a unique way of improving performance and business operations in the new digital world. However, the immediate shutdown caused by the pandemic and the lack of preparation for implementing digital transformation influenced most industries. This chapter outlines the negative implications of COVID-19 on transferring to digital solutions as well as revealed prospects. In this regard, the outcomes of implementing digital transformation in several sectors are reviewed. Assessing these impacts addresses the benefits and drawbacks associated with digitalized solutions. We highlight the beginning of the year 2020, the announcement of the global pandemic, as an important timeline for evaluating the contributions of published papers. Furthermore, we emphasize that papers published following the epidemic in addition to considering the impacts should be included in future research studies in this field.
Farhad Khosrojerdi, Hamed Motaghi, Stéphane Gagnon
The Sociocultural and Economic Barriers to Self-Care Culture for COVID-19 Control in Developing Societies: The Case of Iran
Abstract
There are natural and unnatural problems for human beings. Communicable and incommunicable diseases are common issues in human life. The prevalence of COVID-19 since December 2019 is an ongoing and mysterious danger, and its control is a critical concern. According to the traits and dangerous consequences of COVID-19, self-care plays an inevitable role in its control. This chapter has reviewed the sociocultural and economic barriers to self-care for COVID-19 control in developing societies with an emphasis on Iran. Using the documentary method, databases about concepts, research, theories, and economic, social, and cultural indexes were reviewed. The most used databases were PubMed, Magiran, Noormags, Google Scholar, Sid, Iran Statistic Center, Trading Economics, and World Meters. Reviewing data on life expectancy, mortality, and other indexes among developed and less developed societies, the most barriers for developing societies such as Iran were introduced. Findings showed that the most important barriers are short-term (economic factors), medium-term (social factors), and long-term (cultural factors) barriers. In each time/subject period, two levels, micro and macro, are presented. The macro-economic barriers are economic poverty, economic recession, and inflation. The micro-economic barriers are malnutrition, lack of financial ability to use health-care facilities, lack of living facilities, and the work time in epidemiological conditions. The macro-social barriers are social inequality, lack of attention to prevention, weakness of social organization, and family size in less developed areas while the micro-social barriers are a weakness of education and socialization, and unstable job conditions. The macro-cultural barriers are fate-orientation, weakness of preventive insight, application of common beliefs, low social trust, social traps, and traditional habitus in health care while the micro-cultural barriers are poverty of knowledge and living awareness, self-medication belief, self-healthy imagination, misunderstanding of disease risks, social indifference, and social irresponsibility. As a result, cultural factors are the most important barriers to the self-care culture for the control of pandemic diseases such as COVID-19.
Asghar Mirfardi
The COVID-19-Induced Transaction Cost Suggests Considerable Cost Effectiveness Resulting from the Prevalence of Universal Health Care in the United States
Abstract
This study models the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic from a transaction cost perspective, with the objective of considering the most efficient delivery of universal health care to the public. The neoclassical framing of production, price, and allocation does not consider the transaction costs resulting from the pandemic’s broad effects on the entire economy. The intention of this study is to focus on transaction cost as a particular feature of cost efficiency analyses. The study reveals the effect of pandemic conditions on transaction-specific health-care assets. It considers the asset of registered nursing labor, specifically the changes in travel nurses’ compensation during the period 2019 to 2020. This study finds that the doctrine of federal preemption instituting universal health care is economizing due to the lower transaction costs associated with the administrative control of transaction-specific assets and the advancement of collaboration between organizations. The COVID-19-induced transaction cost effects on travel nurse compensation reveal the extent to which the private health-care system operates with implicit inefficiency. This study calculates a residual cost index using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and industry-sourced data.
D. A. Parker
Assessing the Social Support and Resilience of the Inhabitants of Marginalized Communities amid COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran: A Shiraz Metropolis Case Study
Abstract
Background: Marginalized communities were extremely vulnerable to health, social, psychological, and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between resilience and provided social support for the case study of marginalized communities during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Methodology: This study was conducted by survey method. The study population belonged to the inhabitants of the suburbs of Shiraz (Iran) (n = 374,000 people), of whom 400 people were selected from different neighborhoods by proportional cluster sampling. In order to collect data, a 67-item researcher-made questionnaire was used.
Major Findings: Results showed that among the dimensions of social support, emotional and informational support was above moderate and material support was at a moderate level. Therefore, it can be assumed that the material support was insufficient to increase people’s resilience. Therefore, it is necessary to make interventions to improve the situation. Measures to be taken to increase the level of social support in its various dimensions will strengthen and complement each other and will directly or indirectly increase the resilience of marginalized communities. With regard to information support, steps should be taken to increase people’s awareness, besides a step to strengthen their self-worth through necessary training and increase in awareness, which will in turn raise the level of emotional support. Therefore, people can strengthen the capability for making decisions, solving problems, and establishing effective relationships, as well as the ability for self-awareness, empathy, and coping with emotions and stress, to be able to successfully do away with this crisis.
Implications: Resilience can be increased through social support interventions. Strengthening the social support of the inhabitants of the marginalized areas as a method to increase their resilience seems to be an important strategy in controlling the pandemic.
Value: Assessing the social support and resilience of the inhabitants of marginalized communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic allows us to design more targeted support programs for them during confrontation and virus infections.
Farzaneh Afifian
How the Pandemic Crisis May Affect Economic Systems: A Study on the Nexus Between COVID-19 and Entrepreneurial Activities
Abstract
The world has experienced several great crises that have had a significant economic impact. The global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected economies and production chains, harming millions of businesses and entrepreneurs.
Economic resilience, an ability to adapt to change and responsiveness to exogenous shocks, is a scientific strategy in the business and economy sectors to analyze and deal with these crises. Undoubtedly, entrepreneurship is one of the important factors influencing the economy as a striking pillar of economic resilience. This study tries to identify factors for enhancing economic resilience that will help countries to be more viable when encountering exogenous or indigenous crises.
In this study, the impact of some entrepreneurship indicators, which have been created by applying the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) dataset, on the economic resilience index has been examined. Then, based on regression analysis, it was shown that some entrepreneurial indicators, such as the rate of total early-stage entrepreneurial activities (TEA), the rate of established business ownership (EB), the rate of entrepreneurship intention, and the rate of entrepreneurial innovation, can be useful in estimating and scrutinizing the global resilience index. Following this indirect method, the optimal range of some entrepreneurial indicators for achieving the maximum amount of economic resilience was determined.
Shahla Jahangard, Ebrahim Bonyadi, Lida Sarreshtehdari, Nezameddin Faghih
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Biopolitics and Shock Economy of COVID-19
Editors
Nezameddin Faghih
Amir Forouharfar
Copyright Year
2023
Electronic ISBN
978-3-031-27886-0
Print ISBN
978-3-031-27885-3
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27886-0