Impact persistence of stock market risks in commodity markets: Evidence from China

The risk spillover among financial markets has been noticeably investigated in a burgeoning number of literature. Given those doctrines, we scrutinize the impact persistence of volatility spillover and illiquidity spillover of Chinese commodity markets in this paper. Based on the sample from 2010 to 2020, we reveal that there is a cross-market spillover of volatility and illiquidity in China and also, interactions between volatility and illiquidity in different financial markets are pronounced. More importantly, we demonstrate that different commodity markets have different responsiveness to stock market shocks, which embeds their market characteristics. Specifically, we discover that the majority of the traders in gold market might be hedger and therefore gold market is more sensitive to stock market illiquidity shock and thus the shock impact in persistent. On the other hand, agricultural markets like corn and soybean markets might be dominated by investors and thus those markets respond to the stock market volatility shocks and the shock impact in persistent over 10 periods given the first period of risk shock happening. In fact, different Chinese commodity markets’ responsiveness towards Chinese stock market risk shocks indicates the stock market risk impact persistence in Chinese commodity markets. This result can help policymakers to understand the policy propagation effect according to this risk spillover channel and risk impact persistence mechanism in China.

Likely winners and losers in upcoming COVID-19 economic crisis – lessons learned from the GFC

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent efforts to contain it have started economic downturn that may even surpass the global financial crisis (GFC). The purpose of this study is to uncover the features of enterprises’ resilience during and after an external shock such as the GFC might be helpful in predicting the shock impact on enterprises and setting proper policy measures for the upcoming COVID-19 crisis. Design/methodology/approach The authors analysed the impact of the GFC on the entrepreneurial population in/of the Czech Republic using marginal effects method on a large random sample of 4,478 enterprises. In this analysis, the authors defined two groups of enterprises – “winners” and “losers” – based on the company’s dissolution and performance indicators. Findings The GFC struck the enterprise population asymmetrically in terms of the enterprises’ characteristics but also in terms of time. Micro and small size companies are the most vulnerable to external shocks such as the GFC. Technological level plays an important role in the recovery phase, especially in the case of manufacturing micro enterprises. Research limitations/implications Although there are differences between the GFC and the COVID-19 crisis, the GFC was the only comparable shock in modern history in its global nature, depth and unpredicted occurrence. It can be expected that the impact on enterprises can be partly similar. Practical implications Government support of micro size companies should be the priority in the upcoming COVID-19 crisis. Supporting the innovation and technology progress might accelerate the recovery phase after the crisis especially in micro companies as well. Originality/value This paper presents interesting insights into the impact of external shocks such as the GFC or COVID-19 on enterprises. It uncovers typical features of “winners” or “losers” of such shocks.

Study of the Mechanical and Physical Behavior of Gypsum Boards with Plastic Cable Waste Aggregates and Their Application to Construction Panels

The objective of this study was to analyze the physico-mechanical properties of gypsum boards including plastic waste aggregates from cable recycling. The plastic cable waste is incorporated into the gypsum matrix without going through any type of selection and/or treatment, as it is obtained after the cable recycling process. In the experimental process, gypsum boards of different dimensions were manufactured and tested for their Young’s modulus, shock-impact resistance, flexural strength, thermal conductivity, and thermal comfort. The results obtained show a significant increase in the elasticity of the boards with plastic waste (limited cracking), compliance with the minimum value of flexural strength, and a slight improvement in the thermal conductivity coefficient (lower energy demand) and surface comfort (reduced condensation and greater adherence). Therefore, the analyzed material could provide a suitable alternative to currently marketed gypsum boards, contributing to sustainable construction not only in new constructions, but also in building renovations.

On the transmission of compressional fluctuations from the solar wind to the magnetosphere: an analysis of critical aspects

<div> <p>An important aspect of the interaction between the solar wind (SW) and the magnetosphere concerns the relationship between the SW structures/fluctuations and the onset/transmission of the magnetospheric wave modes. Several critical aspects may influence the results of similar analysis: for example, the frequency of fluctuations that are expected to impinge the magnetosphere may be not the same when they are observed by spacecraft at different places in front of the magnetosphere and the choice of the analytical methods adopted for the spectral analysis might influence the frequency estimate (as well as the wave identification) both in the SW and in the magnetosphere (Di Matteo and Villante, 2017, 2018). Focusing attention on these aspects, we present an analysis of SW compressional fluctuations (f ≈ 1-5 mHz), following two interplanetary shocks, as observed by two spacecraft at different places and compared them with the magnetospheric fluctuations following the corresponding sudden impulses, observed by two satellites at geostationary orbit and at several ground-based stations. Our results confirm that the comparison of different methods of spectral analysis is crucial to obtain a definite estimate of the characteristics of fluctuations in each region. For a case study, in which SW fluctuations at the same frequencies were observed by both interplanetary spacecraft, we found that all fluctuations observed in the magnetosphere were related to SW compressional fluctuations approximately at the same frequencies, with no evidence for wave activity of internal origin, or directly driven by the shock impact.</p> <p> </p> </div>