Which food prices were more vulnerable to the COVID-19 blockade regulations in China? Comparison between perishable and storable vegetables

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how differently the COVID-19 blockade regulations influence the prices of perishable and storable foods. The authors focus on the cases of the 2020 blockade at Hubei province and the 2021 blockade at Shijiazhuang city in China, and the authors examine how the blockade influenced the prices of Chinese cabbages (perishable) and potatoes (storable) within and around the blockade area.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs the fixed effects model, the panel VAR (PVAR) model, and the spatial dynamic panel (SPD) model to estimate the impacts of the blockade on the food prices. It constructs the unique data set of 3-day average prices of Chinese cabbages and potatoes at main wholesale markets in China during the two urban blockade periods from January 1 to April 8 in 2020 and from January 1 to March 1 in 2021.FindingsThe results from the SPD models indicate that the price of Chinese cabbages was more vulnerable and increased by 7.1–9.8% due to the two blockades while the price of potatoes increased by 1.2–6.1%. The blockades also significantly influenced the prices in the areas adjacent to the blockade area. The SPD results demonstrate that the impacts of the blockades would be overestimated if the spatial dependence is not controlled for in the fixed effects model and the PVAR model.Research limitations/implicationsBecause the research focuses on the cases in China, the results may lack generalizability. Further research for other countries is encouraged.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates the importance of considering food types and spatial dependence in examining the impact of the COVID-19 blockades on food prices.

Board Inclusion in Financial Reporting and Dividend Policy: Evidence from Static and Dynamic Panel VAR Models

The study explored how board inclusion in financial reporting affects the dividend policy in Nigeria. The study was conducted within the context of deposit money banks (DMBs) and data were gathered from the financial statement of listed DMBs in Nigeria for ten years spanning from 2008 to 2017. The study employed static and dynamic panel VAR technique. The result showed that dividend per share can predicts frequency of the board meeting, the frequency of board meeting can predicts board compliance to banks' rules and regulation in the future and board compliance to banks' rules and regulation can predict dividend per share. The study concluded that board inclusion in financial reporting on dividend policy exerts long-run and short run negative effect on dividend policy. In view of this study recommended that the board inclusion in financial reporting should aim at discouraging manipulative accounting tendencies and enhance true fare of financial position of the banks with the goal of improving or maximising dividend policy represented by the amount of cash pay-out as dividend to shareholders as a form of reward for their investments.

Economic and Monetary Integration in ECOWAS Countries: A Panel VAR Approach to Identify Macroeconomic Shocks

This paper studies the impact of output, exchange rate, price, and economic policies (fiscal and monetary) shocks to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) economies over the period 1977-2019. The results of the impulse response functions obtained from the panel VAR show that monetary policy shocks stimulate economic activity, whereas fiscal shocks lead to a contraction. Moreover, these economic policy shocks lead to an increase in the price level. Finally, they have opposite effects on the real exchange rate: a monetary policy shock leads to an appreciation of national currencies against the US dollar, while a fiscal innovation leads to a depreciation of these currencies. As for exchange rate and price shocks, they create inflation and consequently a decline in economic activity. Furthermore, the forecast error variance decomposition reveals that real exchange rate shocks contribute the most to future fluctuations in macroeconomic variables in ECOWAS countries. Moreover, a comparison of the impact on the two currency areas, West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), shows the degree of asymmetry between the two areas. The analysis shows, on the one hand, that shocks are more persistent and significant in the WAMZ and, on the other hand, that except for real exchange rate shocks, the two zones respond asymmetrically to shocks emanating from the other variables.

The Complexity of Global Capital Flows: Evidence from G20 Countries

With the high volatility of capital flow and the imbalance of capital flow between emerging and advanced economies, the complexity of capital flow management is always attractive to researchers and policymakers. This study explores how capital flows in G20 countries are significantly impacted by pull and push factors by using regressions, dynamic system GMM, and Panel-VAR models. The results show that international capital flows are significantly associated with domestic financial development, which is measured by stock-market liquidity and domestic credit. Moreover, international capital flows are affected by push factors, such as the growth of the world economy and fluctuations of the crude oil price. This study controls for real interest rate, foreign currency, and capital restriction because the government and macroprudential policies are critical influences on stabilizing capital flows.