How Does COVID-19 Affect the Volatility Spillover Between the Exchange Rate and the Export-oriented Businesses in Iran?

This study concentrates on examining the volatility spillover effects between the exchange rate (IRR to USD) and the leading export-oriented industries (i.e., petrochemical, basic metals and minerals) in Tehran Stock Exchange before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using DCC- and asymmetric DCC-GARCH approaches, the data sample (from 15 December 2018 to 24 April 2021) has been partitioned into two sub-samples: before and after the official announcement of COVID-19 outbreak. The results demonstrate that from the pre- to post-COVID-19 periods, first, the average returns of all industries have sharply fallen; second, the volatility of all variables has been significantly augmented in different horizons; third, for all industries, not only has the fractal market hypothesis approved in both separated periods, but also analysing the values of the fractional difference parameter, together with the outcomes of GARCH models, supports in the higher-risk post-COVID-19 period, wherein the effects of exogenous shocks last longer than their impacts in the alternative lower-risk period. Furthermore, our investigations demonstrate that the asymmetric spillover (based on the ADCC-GARCH models) in both pre- and post-COVID-19 periods are confirmed in all three industries, except for minerals after the novel coronavirus.Ultimately, the results not only corroborate the increase in the volatility spillover effects right after the COVID-19 but also substantiate that the exchange rate contributes most of the spillover effects into the petrochemical and minerals industries, which have been almost twice as much as those of the basic metals.

The Brides of Boko Haram: Economic Shocks, Marriage Practices, and Insurgency in Nigeria

Marriage markets in rural Nigeria are characterised by bride price and polygamy. These customs may diminish marriage prospects for young men, causing them to join militant groups. Using an instrumental variables strategy, I find that marriage inequality increases civil conflict in the Boko Haram insurgency. To generate exogenous shocks to the marriage market, I exploit the fact that young women delay marriage in response to favourable pre-marital economic conditions, which increases marriage inequality primarily in polygamous villages. The same shocks that increase marriage inequality and extremist violence also lead women to marry fewer and richer husbands, generate higher average marriage expenditures, and increase insurgent abductions. The results shed light on the marriage market as an important driver of violent extremism.

Monetary Policy Targets and Macroeconomic Equilibrium. Some Theoretical Remarks

Purpose: The article attempts to systematize the strategies undertaken by individual countries (groups of countries) after the 2007+ crisis with regard to stabilizing prices and supporting economic recovery. It is about highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of particular types of strategies as well as opportunities and threats related to their implementation. Methodology: In the theoretical analysis, three types of economies were distinguished, using as a criterion the orientation of a given economy towards securing price stability or supporting economic recovery. The classical dynamized AD-AS model, commonly used in macroeconomics, and the SWOT analysis were used as a research tool. Findings: The basis for differences in the approach of economic authorities of individual countries to the problem of stabilizing prices or supporting economic recovery is the mandate of the central bank. Depending on the type of strategy implemented by the central bank, individual countries and groups of countries react diametrically to exogenous shocks, which results in different results in terms of economic growth and employment. Practical Implications: The results can be utilized by central authorities (central banks) in formulating assumptions and forecasts of monetary policy. Originality / Value: The paper contains an original division of countries / groups of countries due to their orientation in the field of medium-term stabilization policy. The analyzes of these countries are also original, having no equivalent in the world literature on this subject.

How Do Financial Constraints and Financial Crises Matter in Cash Management?

This chapter investigates how financial constraints and financial crises affect the cash policy of firms. Using a sample of 157,505 firm-years from 26 developing Asian economies from 1991 to 2016, firm fixed effects are employed to mitigate unobserved heterogeneity. Empirical findings show that financially constrained firms have higher cash than financially unconstrained firms, which is in line with the precautionary motive and transaction motive of cash. The picture changes with the rise of financial crises. While financially constrained firms have lower cash before the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, they increase their cash level more after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Overall, managers need to consider the exogenous shocks to enhance their liquidity management. Also, investors should consider the financial crises, firm size, firm constraint, and dividend payment status when determining when and where to invest.

Is stock market in Sub-Saharan Africa resilient to health shocks?

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of health and other exogenous shocks on stock markets in Africa. Particularly, the authors examined the resilience of the major stock markets in 12 African economies during the recent global pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses the recent panel vector autoregressive model, which enables us to capture the response of stock markets to shocks in COVID-19, commodity markets and exchange rate. For robustness, the authors also analysed the panel Granger causality test. Data was obtained for the period ranging from 2 January 2020 to 31 December 2020. Findings The results show that the growth in COVID-19 cases and deaths do not have any substantial impact on the stock market returns of these economies. In terms of commodity markets, the authors find that gold price has a negative contemporaneous effect on stock returns, but the effect fizzles out around the fifth day while crude oil price, on the other hand, has a significant positive simult aneous impact on stock returns and also converges around the fifth day. The authors further find that the exchange rate has a contemporaneous and nonlinear effect on stock returns and seems to be more dramatic when compared with the other variables. Overall, the results show that stock markets in Africa appear to be flexible and resilient against the COVID-19 outbreak but are affected by other exogenous shocks such as volatile commodity prices and the foreign exchange market. The effect is, however, short-lived – between one to five days. Practical implications Following the study’s findings, policies should be put in place to support financial markets by way of hedging against commodity instability and securing domestic currency financing. Policymakers are also recommended to concentrate on managing the uncertainties around their exchange rate markets and develop robust and efficient domestic financial markets to encourage local and foreign investors. Originality/value Several studies have been carried out on the effects of disasters (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) on stock markets, but only a few studies have examined the resilience of stock markets to health and other exogenous shocks. This study’s attempt is not only to examine the impact of COVID-19 health shocks on stock markets but also to analyse the resilience of the sampled stock markets. The authors also analyse the resilience of stock markets to commodity markets and exchange rates shocks.

SMEs and exogenous shocks: A conceptual literature review and forward research agenda

Economic crises, natural disasters, armed conflict and infectious disease outbreaks, amongst others, present interlinked challenges for small businesses and have generated a recent wealth of research across varied fields. Therefore, this article outlines an analytical lens suggesting how SMEs experience shocks and crises that focuses on the interlinked nature of (i) the business, (ii) the shock and (iii) the response within a given context. We thematically draw out key trends, knowledge gaps and tensions and highlight promising research and engagement avenues for future scholarship and practice. We contextualise (i) how small businesses are distinct from large firms in how they experience shock and crisis events; (ii) how different types of crises impact small business; (iii) how shocks and crises shape SME-specific responses and (iv) how the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘novel exogenous shock’ influences all of the above. We conclude by emphasising emerging knowledge avenues for future small business, shock and crisis research.

Polarization and tipping points

Research has documented increasing partisan division and extremist positions that are more pronounced among political elites than among voters. Attention has now begun to focus on how polarization might be attenuated. We use a general model of opinion change to see if the self-reinforcing dynamics of influence and homophily may be characterized by tipping points that make reversibility problematic. The model applies to a legislative body or other small, densely connected organization, but does not assume country-specific institutional arrangements that would obscure the identification of fundamental regularities in the phase transitions. Agents in the model have initially random locations in a multidimensional issue space consisting of membership in one of two equal-sized parties and positions on 10 issues. Agents then update their issue positions by moving closer to nearby neighbors and farther from those with whom they disagree, depending on the agents’ tolerance of disagreement and strength of party identification compared to their ideological commitment to the issues. We conducted computational experiments in which we manipulated agents’ tolerance for disagreement and strength of party identification. Importantly, we also introduced exogenous shocks corresponding to events that create a shared interest against a common threat (e.g., a global pandemic). Phase diagrams of political polarization reveal difficult-to-predict transitions that can be irreversible due to asymmetric hysteresis trajectories. We conclude that future empirical research needs to pay much closer attention to the identification of tipping points and the effectiveness of possible countermeasures.