On the economic impacts of COVID-19: A text mining literature analysis

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected everyday lives worldwide. As governments started to implement confinement and business closure measures, the economic impact was felt by entire societies immediately. The urgency of such a theme has led researchers to study the phenomenon. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to provide the state of the art on relevant dimensions and hot topics of research to understand the economic impacts of COVID-19. In this survey, we conduct a text mining analysis of 301 articles published during 2020 which analyzed such economic impacts. By defining a set of relevant dimensions grounded on existing literature, we were able to extract a set of coherent topics that aggregate the collected articles, characterized by the predominance of a few sets of dimensions. We found that the impact on “financial markets” was widely studied, especially in relation to Asia. Next, we found a more diverse range of themes analyzed in Europe, from “government measures” to “macroeconomic variables.” We also discovered that America has not received the same degree of attention, and “institutions,” “Africa,” or “other pandemics” were studied less. We anticipate that future research will proliferate focusing on several themes, from environmental issues to the effectiveness of government measures.     

Economic Impacts of SARS/MERS/COVID-19 in Asian Countries

This paper surveys the recent literature on the economic impacts of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19, which Asian countries have experienced in the past two decades. In particular, we provide a detailed summary of how each of the past infectious diseases has impacted on the Asian economies and the extent of that impact. This paper also documents how the governments of Asian countries have responded to the COVID-19 shocks with their economic policies, and discusses the effectiveness of these economic policies to mitigate the COVID-19 shocks on their economies.     

How COVID-19 Medical Supply Shortages Led to Extraordinary Trade and Industrial Policy

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, a global shortage of hospital gowns, gloves, surgical masks, and respirators caused policymakers globally to panic. China increased imports and decreased exports of this personal protective equipment, removing supplies from world markets. Shortages led to European Union and US export controls as well as other extraordinary policy actions, including a US effort to reserve supplies manufactured in China by a US-headquartered multinational. By April 2020, China's exports had mostly resumed, and over the rest of the year its export volumes surged. But China's export prices also skyrocketed and remained elevated through 2020, reflecting severe and continued shortages. This paper explores these and other government actions, such as US trade war tariffs and US industrial policy in the form of over $1 billion of subsidies to build out its domestic personal protective equipment supply chain, as well as potential lessons for future pandemic preparedness and international policy cooperation.     

Perceived economic prospects during the early stage of COVID-19 breakout

How does a new epidemic affect individuals' expectations on economic prospects in the early stage of the breakout? We implemented an incentivized longitudinal online survey soon after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in China to answer this question. Results show that fewer new confirmed COVID-19 cases significantly increase individuals' expectations on gross domestic product and consumer price index growth rates. Our finding provides evidence that at the early stage of an unfamiliar epidemic, containing the spread of the disease may help to maintain positive economic expectations among individuals.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of labor market interventions on reducing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper evaluates whether different labor market policy interventions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been effective in reducing its adverse impacts. We construct a database covering 165 countries and 39 labor market interventions grouped into four pillars: stimulating the economy and jobs (pillar 1); supporting enterprises, employment, and incomes (pillar 2); protecting workers (pillar 3); and social dialogue (pillar 4). The results revealed that measures taken under pillars 1, 2, and 3 have reduced the impacts of the pandemic on economic growth; measures under pillar 4 were significantly associated with reducing its impacts on employment and those under pillar 2 with reducing its impacts on working hours.     

The stock market and NO2 emissions effects of COVID-19 around the world

In this paper, we study the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in estimated panel vector autoregression models for 92 countries. The large cross-section of countries allows us to shed light on the heterogeneity of the responses of stock markets and nitrogen dioxide emissions as high-frequency measures of economic activity. We quantify the effect of the number of infections and four dimensions of policy measures: (1) containment and closure, (2) movement restrictions, (3) economic support, and (4) adjustments of health systems. Our main findings show that a surprise increase in the number of infections triggers a drop in our two measures of economic activity. Propping up economic support measures, in contrast, raises stock returns and emissions and, thus, contributes to the economic recovery. We also document vast differences in the responses across subsets of countries and between the first and the second wave of infections.     

Effects of COVID-19 restrictions on mechanization service providers and mechanization equipment retailers: Insights from phone surveys in Myanmar

Agrifood sector mechanization service providers (MSP) and mechanization equipment retailers (MER) have increasingly become the providers of mechanical technologies for smallholders in developing countries, including Myanmar. Evidence remains scarce on the effects of COVID-19 on these MSPs and MERs. This study provides insights into the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on MSPs and MERs in Myanmar, using unbalanced panel data from five rounds of phone surveys. Direct responses to COVID-19 involving movement restrictions, market disruptions, and growing financial challenges had significant negative effects on revenue prospects, service delivery, and sales of machines and equipment. Negative revenue prospects during a particular period can further hurt revenue prospects in subsequent periods. This is consistent with the hypotheses that MSPs who had incurred high sunk costs in machines can engage in more desperate and, thus, potentially suboptimal business practices to recover the sunk cost. Overall, policies to minimize movement restrictions and various financial struggles and mitigate any pessimism at the beginning of the production season are all important to make sure MSPs and MERs continue to function effectively under COVID-19.     

The sooner,the better: The economic impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper estimates the economic impact of the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented by countries in Europe and Central Asia during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis relies on daily electricity consumption, nitrogen dioxide emission and mobility records to trace the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic and calibrate these measures to estimate the magnitude of the economic impact. To address the potential endogeneity in the introduction of NPIs, we instrument their stringency by the extent of a country's social ties to China. The results suggest that the NPIs led to a decline of about 10% in economic activity across the region. On average, countries that implemented non-pharmaceutical interventions in the early stages of the pandemic appear to have better short-term economic outcomes and lower cumulative mortality, compared with countries that imposed non-pharmaceutical interventions during the later stages of the pandemic. Moreover, there is evidence that COVID-19 mortality at the peak of the local outbreak has been lower in countries that acted earlier. In this sense, the results suggest that the sooner non-pharmaceutical interventions are implemented, the better are the economic and health outcomes.     

土地资源在经济增长中的影响效应研究

通过构建包括土地资源的多要素CES生产函数,可从理论分析的角度刻画土地资源对经济增长的影响效应,并对其中的重要影响因子进行相关性分析.文章从土地资源约束对经济增长的“阻尼”效应、土地资源在经济增长中的人均产出效应以及土地供给增长对经济增长的拉动效应三个不同的视角,运用数理经济学的研究方法分析了土地资源对于经济增长的影响效应.研究结论是土地资源约束对经济增长的阻力大小一方面取决于行业属性,另一方面囿于国家经济的整体状况;在土地资源有限的客观经济现实约束下,人均可用土地资源的不断减少势必使经济增长回归到由资本和有效劳动所决定的稳态增长路径中,因此土地资源在平衡增长路径下是动态无效率的;更多依赖于土地或者其他自然资源投入的经济增长方式是不可持续的.     

Impact of government policy responses of COVID-19 pandemic on stock market liquidity for Australian companies

This study investigates the impact of government policy responses of COVID-19 pandemic on stock market liquidity for listed Australian companies and for 11 different industries separately. A quantitative deductive approach is used for a sample of 1,452 companies with a total of 292,164 firm-day observations over a period from January 25, 2020 to December 31, 2020 during the outbreak of COVID-19. Univariate and multivariate (two-way cluster-robust panel regression) analysis were conducted. Data were collected from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, Worldmeter, Refinitiv Workspace and Datastream. Our findings indicate that the influences of the six out of seven stringency policy responses reduced Australian equity market liquidity. However, public information campaigns enhanced market liquidity and hence trading activity. Among the 11 industries, our analysis shows that the non-pharmaceutical interventions by the Australian government have significant and positive effects on four industries: Consumer non-cyclicals, healthcare, financial and technology. However, the worse effects were depicted in the industrial (transportation) and energy industries. This study is important for investors, policymakers and regulators to understand the diverse effects of government policy responses of COVID-19 on stock market liquidity to enhance financial stability. Moreover, understanding this effect is particularly important to decision-makers such as portfolio and fund managers to manage their portfolios and trading activities during extreme turbulence times, such as COVID-19. Unlike previous studies that focus on country analysis, this study examines on firm basis the impact of government interventions on stock market liquidity in a well developed Australian stock market.     

Material and nonmaterial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a low-income country

How have COVID-19-related restrictions affected consumption levels and life satisfaction in low-income countries? We conducted phone surveys with 577 households in Liberia to compare consumption patterns across three points in time: November 2019 (pre-COVID-19), May 2020 (short term), and September 2020 (medium term). This article analyzes the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictions on food and nonfood consumption, which we categorize as “material” welfare and life satisfaction, which we categorize as “nonmaterial” welfare. We find differences between food and nonfood consumption patterns under pandemic conditions. In particular, consumption by households dependent on food and labor markets was negatively affected by the pandemic. In terms of life satisfaction, we find that most respondents perceived their lives to have worsened due to the pandemic.     

Housing affordability and responses during times of stress: A preliminary look during the COVID-19 pandemic

The global SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Pandemic has disrupted public health, economies, and housing markets since early 2020. The shock has called forth a number of policy responses, such as moratoria on foreclosures and evictions, attempts to regulate rents and prices, and a range of subsidies on both supply and demand sides. This paper reviews the state of housing markets and discusses the expected efficacy of alternative policy measures taken or contemplated. Recognizing the provisional nature of any paper written during a large and durable ongoing shock, suggestions for additional research are provided.     

从疫情看中美关系:表现、原因及对策

在2020年暴发的新冠肺炎疫情中,中美本应借机缓和前期的贸易冲突危机,但美国不仅没有缓和与中国的关系,反而从医疗产品进口、供应链转移、舆论战等方面,加大与中国的分歧,这背后的原因包括:美国对中国的战略打压、借机转移国内矛盾、中美发展模式之争,以及科技竞争加剧等。为此,本文建议中美之间增进相互信任,中国应谨防陷入美国的话语陷阱,专注于解决自身国内问题,以及加强底线思维,做好最坏打算。     

试论我国食品安全供应链综合管理

食品供应链综合管理的核心内容是质量认证与跟踪管理,其思想为解决我国食品供应链中的安全问题提供了基本的思路。本文在分析我国食品供应链中存在的与食品安全相关的问题基础上,对我国实践食品安全供应链综合管理进行了思考,提出了从宏观、中观、微观三个层面上进行食品安全供应链综合管理的框架,并对食品安全供应链综合管理中的信息集成与共享进行了探讨。     

新冠肺炎疫情冲击下企业生存韧性研究——来自中国上市公司的证据

新冠肺炎疫情冲击下如何识别、测度和提升微观企业生存韧性,是及时应对突发事件和推动经济高质量发展面临的热点问题。本文基于2018-2021年中国沪深A股上市公司数据,将疫情冲击下企业生存指标降幅与恢复增长所需时长作为企业生存韧性的观测指标,首次运用断点回归与双重差分模型相结合的方法对疫情冲击下企业生存韧性进行了定量研究。研究发现,受突发疫情影响,反映上市公司生存韧性的指标呈现出“V”型波动,疫情影响在2~3个季度之后基本得到恢复,表明企业生存具有强大韧性;从地区看,疫情冲击对湖北影响最大,部分疫情轻度地区疫情防控存在“层层加码”现象;从行业看,疫情对交通运输、仓储和邮政业、住宿和餐饮业产生的冲击最大;从产权主体看,疫情影响程度由大到小依次为外资企业、国有企业和民营企业;从规模看,疫情冲击对大型企业成长能力指标负向影响大于中型企业,而对中型企业盈利能力指标负向影响大于大型企业,疫情冲击对小型企业净利润同比增长率产生了显著促进作用,表明小型上市公司具有更大的灵活性和较强的生存韧性。本文认为,应根据企业生存韧性和企业特征选取差异化帮扶政策,科学统筹推进常态化疫情防控和经济社会发展。     

实施关联供应链的经济分析及对策研究

关联供应链是面对当前资源、环境问题所提出的一种新型供应链管理模式。本文通过对实施关联供应链进行经济分析,讨论了关联供应链实施的基本条件,指出适当的环境罚款额度和原材料价格是关联供应链实施的驱动力,生产性废弃物再利用成本及产出规模是关联供应链具有经济性的关键因素。由此进一步分析了目前关联供应链实施过程中所面对的主要困难及障碍,提出了企业集团公司内部关联关系及共同出资契约合作的关联供应链构建模式,以及中小企业多关联关系构建措施等相应的实施对策。     

Quantitative Analysis of the COVID-19 Pandemic Shock to Household Consumption in China

We study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic shock on household consumption in China. Using household survey data, we find that the proportion of liquidity-constrained households increases quickly, but the constraint levels vary across distinct groups. We build a heterogeneous agent life cycle incomplete market model to analyze the long-run and short-run effects of the pandemic shock. The quantitative results reveal a slow recovery of consumption due to three reasons: hiking unemployment rate, declining labor productivity, and worsening income stability. The hiking unemployment rate plays the key role in households’ consumption reduction since it simultaneously leads to a negative income effect and upsurging precautionary saving motives. Our paper highlights the importance of maintaining a stable labor market for faster recovery.     

货币供给、通货膨胀、经济增长之间关系的实证研究——基于2006～2010年数据的分析

利用我国2006年12月～2010年12的月度数据,在VAR模型的基础上,对我国货币供应、通货膨胀、经济增长之间的关系进行实证分析。研究发现,短期内通货膨胀和经济增长对货币供应量的效应相反;货币供应并不影响通货膨胀和经济增长;经济增长与通货膨胀无关,通货膨胀对经济增长具有正面效应。长期来看,通货膨胀和货币供应量之间正相关;经济增长对货币供应具有负效应,货币供给量的增加促进经济增长,证实我国存在托宾效应;经济增长和通货膨胀之间作用相反,通货膨胀损害经济增长的弗里德曼假说在我国适用。同时得出我国货币供给具有非中性和内生性特点的结论。     

Inter- and intracountry effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on wages and economic growth

This paper aims to investigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on technological knowledge, wage inequality, and economic growth, by proposing a Direct-Technical-Change model with two economies, an Innovative and other Follower. Six hypotheses are considered: (i) decrease in the unskilled-labor supply, (ii) decrease in the absolute advantage of unskilled labor, (iii) decrease in the intensity of the unskilled sector, (iv) hypothesis (i) combined with a lower decrease in the skilled-labor supply, (v) hypothesis (ii) combined with a lower decrease in the absolute advantage of skilled labor, (vi) all the variations previously considered. By comparing the steady states before and after the shock, we find an increase in the technological-knowledge bias that favors the skill-intensive sector, which positively affects the skill premium. However, in hypotheses (i) and (iv), the decrease in the relative supply of unskilled labor dominates the effect on the skill premium, which thus decreases. The economic growth rate is always penalized except for hypothesis (iii). Hypotheses (ii) and (iv) are undesirable because they increase wage inequality and penalize economic growth. Governments should support innovative activity, the engine of technological-knowledge progress, and thus economic growth, but with caution not to exacerbate the skill premium.     

Introduction to “Economic and Financial Governance in the European Union after a decade of Economic and Political Crises.”

ABSTRACT

This paper offers the Introduction to the Special Issue “Economic and Financial Governance in the European Union after a decade of Economic and Political Crises.” We introduce the five papers. We distill three important lessons they offer for EU integration.