International production, structural change and public policies in times of pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the world economy at a pace never seen before. Both supply- and demand-side conditions have been affected, putting all relevant dimensions of the economy under unprecedent stress. At the time of writing this introduction, the virus is continuing to infect and kill large numbers of people in several countries, especially in the US, Brazil and India. In Europe, the contagion curve has flattened almost everywhere through the widespread application of draconian lockdown and social distancing measures. By drastically reducing interpersonal contacts, such measures were instrumental to mitigate the health consequences of the pandemic. At the same time, they caused a dramatic drop in global GDP and employment, resulting in a major economic slowdown which is paving the way for a recession even worse than the one triggered by the Great Financial Crisis of 2008.