The impact of Covid-19 on international financial markets: winners and losers

The pandemic caused by the SARS-Cov-2 (Covid-19) virus has triggered a worldwide impact on the economy that has been firstly reflected in the financial markets‘ performance. As a consequence of this global health emergency, the world economy is going to deal with its greatest threat since the 2008 Financial Crisis. However, the collapse and recovery of countries and industries are likely to be divergent. This paper aims to provide a global picture of different stock exchange indexes’ progress, including SP 500, Eurostoxx 50, IBEX 35 and CSI 300. In addition, components‘ performance of the Eurostoxx 50 have been analyzed in order to gather more specific information regarding the Covid-19 impact in different industries. Results have revealed that recovery in some of the stock markets are due to large corporation’s resilience and some winning sectors. As a result, the economic recovery is taking the form of a "K".

Historical evolution and current state of investment of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund in the stock market

Over the past three decades, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) have grown to become key players in the global investment landscape. At the top of this list is the Norwegian SWF, with a volume of assets under management surpassing 1 billion US$1, of which 70% is invested in more than 9,000 listed companies worldwide. This paper offers a global and descriptive vision of the evolution of the distribution of investment in shares, taking into account criteria such as the economic sector to which it belongs, the region where the investment is made or the number of companies that attract this investment. It is concluded that the fund has chosen to consolidate a highly diversified investment strategy both geographically and by industry.

Comparison of real estate appraisal methodologies based on artificial intelligence

The aim of this paper is to present and compare models that estimate the value of a property according to its characteristics. This information can be required by, for example, potential investors in the real estate markett. In this way, they will be able to compare the offer price of the property with the value obtained by the model, before making investment or disinvestment decisions. In this paper we apply supervised (regression tree, random forerst, nearest neighbour, SVM) and unsupervised (clustering) data analysis methods in order to estimate the value of dwellings located in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is found that the housing characteristic that most influences the price is the surface area, and to a lesser extent the number of rooms, whether the building has a lift, the number of bathrooms and whether the building has a car park. The best method of estimation, according to the MAPE, was the random forest method.

Scandals in auditing companies as an example of market self-regulation

Market self-regulation is a process by which the market constantly regulates itself thanks to the interaction and relationships between the forces and agents that operate in it. In this context, auditing companies play a fundamental role in verifying the companies' accounting information, which must represent a true image of the economic and financial reality of the company, necessary for the efficiency of the self-regulation system. This article seeks, based on the analysis of the audit work in Spain, and in cases of accounting fraud scandals in which various audit firms have been sprinkled in our country, to conclude whether or not this self-regulatory system is an efficient system.

COVID-19 uncertainty and Bitcoin market, linking the liquidity cost to the cryptocurrency yields

The cryptocurrency market is emerging as a new asset class for the investment. As the traditional asset prices are often noted to be influenced by the liquidity risk, this study links the cryptocurrency liquidity cost to its yields. Pre-pandemic uncertainty, the Bitcoin liquidity cost was found to be priced in its returns during the same trading session. Post-pandemic crisis, the relationship was changed. The liquidity cost was reported not to be priced in the Bitcoin returns at the time of same trading session. Post-pandemic crisis, however, the liquidity cost imposed by the liquidity supplier on day t − 1 was noted to be priced in the Bitcoin return of day t . In the cryptocurrency market, this study quantifies the effects on the Bitcoin returns of its liquidity cost, and if such effects vary pre- and post-pandemic uncertainty.

Farmers’ market as an alternative for strengthening sustainable practices: a study in the city of Marechal Cândido Rondon – Paraná

This study addresses farmers’ market as an alternative for sustainable development, within the social conjuncture of family agriculture and its productive system. Farmers’ markets strengthen the bonds between urban and rural spheres, allowing the family farmers to find in this activity an opportunity to strengthen the local market. This research aims to analyze farmers’ market as an alternative for the strengthening of sustainable practices in the city of Marechal Cândido Rondon – PR. This is a bibliographic and documentary study, with a descriptive exploratory approach, contemplating the relationship between sustainability, rural development, family agriculture and rural markets, more precisely farmers’ market in the urban environment, complemented by a case study, with field research and application of a structured questionnaire with open and closed questions for the producers and organizers of the market. Thus, it was emphasized that farmers’ market really is composed of exhibitors, mostly farmers and family farmers, that can also be considered as a business alternative for family farming, acting as a driver for sustainable rural development, since it generates income and expands the opportunity to offer the commercialized products, bringing not only financial, as well as social and environmental return for the family farmer.

Analysis of the Spanish real estate market as investment opportunity

After the bubble burst, the real estate sector has become a very attractive market for funds or large investors. Financial entities were going through a very difficult situation and these opportunistic funds found the best time to invest in real estate. One of the most important funds in this market is Blanckstone, it has a large portfolio of assets and is considered the largest landlord in Spain. At the end of 2013, several indicators were favorable for the real state sector. However, since the last quarter of 2019, this recovery already showed signs of exhaustion and the contraction was greater this year since productive activity in most sectors was paralyzed. However, several authors agree that a market collapse will not occur, since they are since current conditions are better compared to those that occurred during the bursting of the bubble, for example the private sector presents a better financial position and there is no excessive building.

Inclusion of accounting for sustainability by professors of accounting programs

Sustainability is a concept that has been positioned at the corporate and business world level, which raises the question of how one of the main actors in this field: accountants, has been trained to understand and apply this concept in his work. This article aims to discuss the training that future accounting professionals receive, how curricula and content should be adapted and transformed to prepare accountants with a critical and human sense that allows them to analyze business activities not only from a single perspective economic but also environmental and social, which would give way to the teaching of accounting for sustainability.

Spanish financial institutions facing the challenge of digitalization: The case of payment systems

Technological development has brought about major changes in all aspects and spheres of society. Among the various environments where technological applications have brought improvements and transformed the usual way of operating, we highlight the financial sector. Indeed, technology has substantially modified the processes and mechanisms on which its operation is based, especially in the area of payments, due to the need for reliability, security and immediacy to improve the way in which money is transmitted between the different agents that interact in it. This digitization of payment systems has been made possible by various factors, including the emergence of new business models and the emergence of large technology companies, as well as the application of new technologies that streamline payment processes. This has forced the financial sector and, specifically, financial institutions, the main drivers of the financial system, to accelerate innovation in the payments sector in order to face these new challenges. This paper analyses payment systems, how they work, the services they provide and the challenges and opportunities that can be identified as a result of technological innovation in the financial sector. It also presents the strategies being followed by Spanish financial institutions in terms of the development of new services and capabilities to cope with these changes.