Presentation on YouTube.

We analyze an epidemiological model in which individuals trade the costs and benefits of self-isolation while being uncertain about both their type and the dynamics of the epidemic. We characterize the unique symmetric equilibrium and show that uncertainty can be the cause of an additional wave of infections. We calibrate our model to the COVID-19 pandemic and simulate the dynamics of the epidemic under various scenarios to illustrate the impact of uncertainty on self-isolation behaviors. We show that uncertainty about the epidemic dynamics may be welfare improving, both in terms of fraction of deaths and average payoffs. (with Dominique Baril-Tremblay and Lucie Ménager)