SIR Model and Information/ Innovation Economics

Question

The SIR Model from epidemiology is being discussed a lot recently due to the COVID19 scenario. I recently read this article about the Corona virus and what economics can offer- https://afinetheorem.wordpress.com/2020/03/13/the-simple-economics-of-social-distancing-and-the-coronavirus/

In the beginning itself, it mentions that "the most straightforward epidemiological model of infection – the SIR model dating back to the 1920s – is actually quite commonly used in economic models of innovation or information diffusion, so it is one we are often quite familiar with."

Which economic model or which class of economic models is likely referred to in this line? Where can I read more and learn about these models of information and innovation?

Answer 1

I'm not familiar with this area, so I can't tell you what are the seminal works, etc., but a quick search finds Gurley & Johnson (2017) "Viral economics: an epidemiological model of knowledge diffusion in economics":

We model the diffusion of economic knowledge using an epidemiological model of susceptible, exposed, infected/inspired, and recovered populations (SEIR). Treating peer-reviewed journal publications as evidence of a scholar’s infection/inspiration with energy for an idea or theme, we estimate the coefficients of a four-equation simultaneous system for each of 759 sub-fields of economics. Results show that some sub-fields of economics (or viruses, here) grow endogenously much faster than others, and just over half have basic reproduction properties sufficient to ensure survival without the annual addition of new protégé scholars.

Which in some sense is amusing because it's applying the model to economics knowledge/research itself. (The paper looks like it has been in draft out there for a while; there's one dating back to 2011, which is freely available on SSRN.)

I suspect the paper cites some other relevant work(s) in this area.