Does the second wave of COVID-19 undermine corporate immunity? International evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huy Viet Hoang ◽  
Cuong Nguyen ◽  
Khanh Hoang

PurposeThis study compares the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stock returns in the first two waves of infection across selected markets, given built-in corporate immunity before the global outbreak.Design/methodology/approachThe data are collected from listed firms in five markets that have experienced the second wave of COVID-19 contagion, namely the United States (US), Australia, China, Hong Kong and South Korea. The period of investigation in this study ranges from January 24 to August 28, 2020 to cover the first two COVID-19 waves in selected markets. The study estimates the research model by employing the ordinary least square method with fixed effects to control for the heterogeneity that may confound the empirical outcomes.FindingsThe analysis reveals that firms with larger size and more cash reserves before the COVID-19 outbreak have better stock performance under the first wave; however, these advantages impede stock resilience during the second wave. Corporate governance practices significantly influence stock returns only in the first wave as their effects fade when the second wave emerges. The results also suggest that in economies with greater power distance, although stock price depreciation was milder in the first wave, it is more intense when new cases again surge after the first wave was contained.Practical implicationsThis paper provides practical implications for corporate managers, policymakers and governments concerning crisis management strategies for COVID-19 and future pandemics.Originality/valueThis study is the first to evaluate built-in corporate immunity before the COVID-19 shock under successive contagious waves. Besides, this study accentuates the importance of cultural understanding in weathering the ongoing pandemic across different markets.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Ajjoub ◽  
Thomas Walker ◽  
Yunfei Zhao

PurposeThis paper explores the effects of US President Donald Trump's Twitter messages (tweets) on the stock prices of media and non-media companies.Design/methodology/approachThe authors’ empirical analysis considers all Twitter messages posted by Donald Trump from May 26, 2016 (the date he passed the threshold of 1,237 delegates required to guarantee his presidential nomination) to August 30, 2018. The authors accessed President Trump's tweets through http://www.trumptwitterarchive.com, which provides links to all Twitter messages the President has ever posted. Of the 6,983 presidential tweets during our sample period, the authors select 513 messages that mention companies that are publicly traded in the United States for this study. The selected messages are then classified as having a positive, neutral or negative sentiment. The authors employ a series of univariate and multivariate tests as well as Heckman two-step regressions and partial least squares regressions to examine the effect of the President's tweets on the stock prices of the firms he tweets about.FindingsFor media firms, the authors find that positive tweets have a pronounced positive stock price impact, whereas negative and neutral tweets have little or no effect. For non-media firms, the authors observe the opposite: negative tweets tend to be associated with significant stock price declines, whereas neutral and positive tweets incur weakly positive stock price reactions. To a large extent, these stock price declines reverse on the following day. The authors further find that the President's reiteration of information that is already known by the market incurs an additional stock price reaction. The President's attitude towards the news appears to play a major role in this context.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the literature by offering various new insights regarding the effect social media has on the stock markets. In addition, this paper expands the emerging strand of literature that explores how President Trump affects the stock prices of firms he tweets about. This paper differs from prior studies in this area by considering a broader range of tweets, by controlling for potential selection biases, by differentiating between Trump's tweets about media and non-media firms and by exploring the impact of “old” vs “new” news based on whether the President repeats information that is already known to the market. If social media posts by single influential people are found to affect markets, they may create trading opportunities for investors and financial managers and risk arbitrage opportunities for arbitrageurs. In the political science field, the findings of this research provide valuable insights into how politicians can employ social media platforms to affect the public, and the differential influence of nominees and politicians in office. Finally, our study gives corporations that wish to back a certain campaign or a candidate in an election a better idea of the possible risks and benefits of their actions, considering that candidates or politicians could post negative messages on social media platforms targeting companies that backed their opponents.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Li Eng ◽  
Mahelet Fikru ◽  
Thanyaluk Vichitsarawong

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of sustainability disclosures and disclosure ratings on firm value. This paper compares the informativeness of sustainability disclosures in company reports versus environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure ratings. The authors examine the extent to which they provide incremental information. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of panel data from over 2,600 publicly-listed non-financial US companies for the period 2014–2018. The authors obtain sustainability disclosures from Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Navigator and ESG disclosure scores from Bloomberg. The authors regress market value and/or stock price on sustainability disclosures and ESG scores to evaluate information content. Findings ESG scores are positively associated with market value and price. Sustainability disclosures in the form of metrics and company-tailored narratives provide incremental information content on market value and/or price. Boilerplate disclosures reduce market value and price. Sustainability disclosures and ESG scores provide incremental information, suggesting that it would be beneficial to harmonize standards for reporting sustainability disclosures. Research limitations/implications The limitation is that the authors have only considered sustainability disclosures for a sample of US companies from two sources – SASB Navigator and Bloomberg. Practical implications The paper provides some evidence that may be pertinent to the debate on whether to harmonize the guidance on reporting sustainability issues. Social implications The paper provides evidence on the benefits to firms for reporting sustainability issues. Originality/value This paper is among the first to analyze company sustainability disclosures obtained from two different sources – SASB Navigator and ESG disclosure ratings – and compare them for relevance for company valuation. With SASB Navigator, the authors obtain further refinement into the nature of the information provided in the sustainability disclosures, that is, boilerplate, company-tailored or metrics disclosures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-212
Author(s):  
Saverio Minardi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of two-tier firm-level collective agreements on firms’ propensity to use temporary employment, accounting for the process of self-selection of firms into different bargaining levels in the Italian context. It further examines which firm-level characteristics drive this process of selection. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis uses a panel data set of Italian firms for the years 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2015. Estimations are produced and compared through ordinary least square regression, random-effects and fixed-effects models. Findings Results show that enterprises adopting two-tier firm-level agreements (TTFA) are associated with lower levels of temporary workers. However, a longitudinal analysis suggests that introducing a TTFA does not impact firms’ propensity to employ temporary workers. This novel finding highlights the presence of a selection process based on firm-level time-constant characteristics. The paper argues that these characteristics refer to management orientation toward high-road rather than low-road employment strategies. Further evidence is brought in support of this claim, showing that firms’ propensity toward the provision of training for their labor force partially explain the process of selection. Originality/value The study is the first to analyze the impact of secondary-level collective agreements on firms’ reliance on temporary employment, offering new evidence on the causes of the expansion of temporary employment. It further highlights the relevance of employers’ strategies in shaping the impact of the bargaining structure.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1091-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwi Suhartanto

PurposeThis study aims to examine behavioural intention towards Islamic bank including three determinants: religiosity, trust and image across customers and non-customers.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses 400 samples, consisting of customers and non-customers of Islamic banks collected from Bandung, Indonesia. Partial least square was applied to evaluate the association between religiosity, trust, image and behavioural intention.FindingsThis study reveals a direct effect of religiosity on behavioural intention and indirect effect through trust and image for both customers and non-customers of Islamic banks. Although the impact of religiosity on trust, image and behavioural intention is significant in both the customer and non-customer sample, the effect of religiosity on the customer is higher compared to that of non-customer.Practical implicationsThis study provides an opportunity for Islamic bank managers to increase the behavioural intention among the customer, as well as non-customer. To increase behavioural intention amongst customers and non-customers, Islamic bank managers need to keep the bank operation compliant with theSharialaw, maintain a good image and gain trust from both customers and non-customers.Originality/valueThis study is the first attempt to evaluate the behavioural intention towards Islamic bank across customers and non-customers.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemiraja Jadiyappa ◽  
Anto Joseph ◽  
Garima Sisodia

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of the bank-appointed directors on the agency costs of debt by using the idiosyncratic risk of stock returns as a measure of agency costs of debt.Design/methodology/approachWe use multivariate panel regression, event study and finally, propensity score matching approaches to test our hypothesis. The robustness of the results is tested for possible endogeneity issues by employing instrumental variable two-stage least square (IV-2SLS) technique.FindingsConsistent with the efficient monitoring hypothesis, we find a negative relationship between the presence of the bank-appointed director and the idiosyncratic volatility of stock returns among Indian firms. This implies that such firms take up less risky investment projects.Originality/valueWe contribute to the literature from two aspects. First, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the monitoring efficiency of creditors' governance. Hitherto, such examinations are done from the shareholders' perspective. Second, we examine the role of the bank-appointed directors on the board of non-financial firms in an emerging world context and find, contrary to the existing evidence in the US context, active monitoring role played by such directors.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Benítez-Aurioles

Purpose This study aims to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the peer-to-peer (p2p) market for tourist accommodation. Design/methodology/approach Using monthly panel data from Airbnb listings in 22 cities worldwide, the authors run a differences-in-differences analysis comparing the period of February–October 2020 to the previous year. Findings Besides a decline in accommodation supply, the pandemic made prices and demand fall in all cities significantly, after controlling for room characteristics, host traits, booking policies and individual fixed effects. There is also evidence of an alteration of the influence on prices of certain variables such as superhost and instant booking. Research limitations/implications The main limitations are related to the reference spatial and temporal environment. Besides, the samples are limited to listings that stayed before and after the pandemic; therefore, it is possible that the real effect on review growth and/or prices is actually more negative. Practical implications The analysis performed shows a scenario that represents an opportunity for public managers to test more imaginative regulations that overcome the limitations of those implemented so far. Likewise, hosts who aspire to make their accommodations profitable must adapt to the conditions imposed by the economic environment of the cities in which they operate. Originality/value This is the first study to econometrically estimate the impact of COVID-19 on prices in the p2p market for tourist accommodation in a set of cities worldwide.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 638-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Li

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of the dividend payout ratio on future stock returns and momentum strategies. Design/methodology/approach The author uses the portfolio sorting approach used in the momentum literature to examine this impact. Findings First, the author shows that the returns for the winner stocks tend to be the largest if no dividends are paid and then decrease with the dividend payout ratio; the returns for the loser stocks tend to have an inverted U-shaped relationship with the dividend payout ratio, but the zero-dividend loser stocks have the smallest return; and the returns for the stocks between the winners and the losers tend to remain similar, regardless of the dividend payout ratio. Second, the author shows that momentum profit is the largest for the stocks that do not make dividend payment but appear similar for the stocks that pay dividends. The author's empirical findings imply that stock price momentum is a function of the dividend payout ratio, growth stock momentum tends to be much stronger than value stock momentum and no-dividend stock momentum beats dividend stock momentum. In fact, when the dividend payout ratio is considered, momentum profit can be improved by up to 63 per cent. Originality/value This paper is the first one to examine the impact of dividend payout ratios on future stock returns and momentum profit, and it obtained many interesting empirical results. In addition, unlike most studies in the momentum literature that use behavioral theory to explain empirical findings, this paper uses the growth option idea to present a rational explanation for the empirical results in this paper.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 1392-1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Stephen Haggard ◽  
Yaoyi Xi

Purpose Conventional wisdom says that the price reduction stocks experience at expiration of the initial public offering (IPO) lockup period is due to relaxation of selling constraints. Findings from more recent literature question this explanation. The purpose of this paper is to examine a different cause for this price drop, IPO overvaluation. Design/methodology/approach Using the IPO overvaluation measures of Purnanandam and Swaminathan (2004), the authors examine IPO lockup period stock return differences between stocks in the highest and lowest overvaluation quintiles. Findings The authors show that the IPO lockup period price reduction is strongly related to overvaluation. Zero-investment portfolios long in the lowest overvaluation quintile and short in the highest overvaluation quintile of IPO firms have positive significant returns. Practical implications IPO investors can use the technique to identify firms likely to underperform in the IPO lockup period, potentially avoiding bad investments. Originality/value This is the first study to link IPO lockup period stock returns to IPO overvaluation, providing evidence on the impact of both overvaluation and short-selling constraints on stock returns in the IPO lockup period.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thadeu Gasparetto ◽  
Angel Barajas ◽  
Carlos María Fernandez-Jardon

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the demand for tickets in the Brazilian State Championships focussing in the impact generated by the brand teams as well as the play-off matches in the demand for tickets and, consequently, in the match day revenues. Design/methodology/approach An equations system by three-stage least square estimator is employed. The data set comprises 1,114 matches from Mineiro, Carioca and Paulista Championships over the seasons 2013-2015. Findings All explanatory variables increase both attendance and match day revenues. However, the most important goal is the distribution of wealth found. The presence of brand teams in those championships provides a financial aid for smaller teams. Practical implications The proposals from the mass media to exclude the brand teams and design those championships exclusively in play-off stages should not be implemented by the policymakers. On the contrary, rearranging the design of the competition with more matches between small teams and brand teams may help to all of them. Originality/value The paper contributes to introduce the Brazilian State Championships in the sport economics literature as well as evidences the redistribution effect of wealth among clubs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chau Ngoc Dang ◽  
Long Le-Hoai ◽  
Soo-Yong Kim

Purpose This study aims to identify key knowledge enabling factors (KEFs) which can enable construction companies to improve various organizational effectiveness outcomes (OEOs). Design/methodology/approach Using a questionnaire, data are collected from construction companies in Vietnam. Mean score method is used to calculate the mean values of KEFs. In addition, regression analysis is used to identify KEFs which significantly affect OEOs. Findings A list of 32 KEFs, whose ranking orders of importance are provided according to different types of construction companies, is presented. In addition, different lists of specific KEFs which could significantly affect different OEOs are identified. Furthermore, seven key KEFs which could have a significant impact on many OEOs are highlighted. Practical implications The findings of this study could help construction companies to know the controllable KEFs, on which they should focus more. Hence, they could perform these KEFs properly to improve various aspects of organizational effectiveness. Originality/value This study identifies 32 KEFs and 10 OEOs specifically for knowledge management in construction companies. This study also provides construction companies with a better understanding of the impact of KEFs on various aspects of organizational effectiveness. Hence, they could develop effective KEFs-based management strategies to enhance various aspects of organizational effectiveness.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document