Is there an Attenuation Bias in the Effect of Economic Policy Uncertainty? Historical Evidence from the U.S.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Bartsch ◽  
Carlos D. Ramirez
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Thomas Chinan Chiang

This paper examines the impact of changes in economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and COVID-19 shock on stock returns. Tests of 16 global stock market indices, using monthly data from January 1990 to August 2021, suggest a negative relation between the stock return and a country’s EPU. Evidence suggests that a rise in the U.S. EPU causes not only a decline in a country’s stock return, but also a negative spillover effect on the global market; however, we cannot find a comparable negative effect from global EPU to U.S. stocks. Evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact that significantly affects stock return worldwide. This study also finds an indirect COVID-19 impact that runs through a change in domestic EPU and, in turn, affects stock return. Evidence shows significant COVID-19 effects that change relative stock returns between the U.S. and global markets, creating a decoupling phenomenon.


Author(s):  
Liangliang Jiang ◽  
Jeffrey A. Pittman ◽  
Walid Saffar

We study how policy uncertainty influences textual disclosure in the U.S. from 1996 to 2015. Consistent with incentives for voluntary disclosure, we find that policy uncertainty increases textual disclosure quantity, as evident in disclosure length, but lowers textual readability and increases the tone of uncertainty and negativity. We also document that the negative impact on readability subsides when firms are subject to tough external monitoring. Finally, we provide evidence implying that investors perceive such disclosure to be valuable, as evident in cheaper equity financing costs under economic policy uncertainty.


2020 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 104019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sagi Akron ◽  
Ender Demir ◽  
José María Díez-Esteban ◽  
Conrado Diego García-Gómez

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