COVID-19 and corporate tax avoidance: International evidence

Governments across the globe initiated various tax reforms in the post- Global Financial Crisis period to rein in aggressive corporate tax avoidance for managing budget deficits. These developments created new realities in the international business environment by altering the costs and benefits of corporate tax management. Yet, we have a limited understanding of the effectiveness of tax reforms in controlling corporate tax avoidance at the global level. COVID-19 offers a litmus test for how corporates manage their taxes during the pandemic in light of past tax reforms. We use financial constraints and reputational costs as two contradicting theoretical perspectives to explain corporate tax avoidance during the crisis. Consistent with the financial constraints hypothesis, we find that firms avoid taxes amid COVID-19 to prevent liquidity crunches. Our study also highlights the role of country-level information and governance quality in curbing tax avoidance during extreme events like COVID-19. Our findings call for an immediate tax policy intervention to limit corporate tax avoidance during the ongoing pandemic phases.     

On the corporate social responsibility perceptions of equity analysts

The importance of communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR) not only to socially responsible investors but also to the mainstream of the financial community is gaining importance in a more competitive capital market environment. This article looks at how equity analysts at the German stock exchange in Frankfurt – individuals who are not particularly involved in socially responsible investment (SRI) research – perceive economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibility strategies. The evidence obtained in our interviews suggests that responsibility issues are increasingly becoming part of mainstream investment analysis. However, for them to play a larger part in the future, investor relations personnel must frame responsibility strategies in a way that is more consistent with the financial community's perspective. In particular, the impact of CSR measures on strategic development, competitive anticipation and creating trust with stakeholders are key in leveraging CSR in financial communications.     

论公司公益捐赠的法律规制

公司公益捐赠会导致各方的利益冲突.通过法律规制为公司捐赠中内外部利益冲突提供一个合理的平衡方案,是公司公益捐赠健康发展的必要条件.公司公益捐赠的法律规制措施主要是合理确定公司公益捐赠的决策机构,限制公司公益捐赠的对象与数额,并建立外部债权人的权利救济措施.     

The influence of the corporate social responsibility disclosures on consumer brand attitudes under the impact of COVID-19

This study focuses on the use of we-media by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to disclose internal corporate social responsibility (ICSR) under the impact of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Study 1 interprets the catalyst effect of COVID-19 on the externalization of SMEs’ ICSR. The fuzzy grading evaluation method is initially verified. Under the impact of COVID-19, SMEs fulfilling their ICSR can enhance consumer brand attitudes. Study 2 uses a structural equation model and empirical analysis of 946 effective samples and finds that consumers perceive the self-sacrifice of corporations during the coronavirus disease period. SMEs can fulfill their ICSR to enhance the internal explanation mechanism of consumer brand attitudes and the moderating role of enterprise losses.     

COVID-19 and the Growth Potential

Intereconomics - The lasting economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will become apparent in the development of the macroeconomic factors of production — labour, capital, human capital as...     

International Inequality and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The lockdowns and stimulus programmes that governments have adopted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic crisis have affected the distribution of income and production within and between countries. Considering both, current evidence indicates that the EU-wide and global inequality of disposable income did not change dramatically in 2020. However, the unequal impact on the wealth and health of people is likely to worsen income inequality in the future.

     

Central bank responses to COVID-19

Business Economics - Central bank responses to COVID-19 have been extraordinary in speed, in size and in scope. Much easier monetary policy, massive liquidity provision, and targeted credit support...     

Timed intervention in COVID-19 and panic buying

In view of 2020 outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19, the paper examines the relationship between government measures for combating the pandemic and their side effects. Panic buying is identified as one such side effect. Among various models and measures undertaken by government to manage the pandemic, timed-intervention policy is commonly practiced by most countries. This paper examines the timing effect between government measures and panic buying. Three studies were undertaken to understand the timing effect and identify a connection between timed measures and consumer behaviours. Semantic analysis, secondary data search, and big data analytics were deployed to address the research aim. Although claiming a causal relationship is cautioned, the findings reveal a connection between timing of government measures and panic buying. These findings are discussed with the support of real-life evidence. Implications for researchers and practitioners conclude this paper.     

关于新冠疫情的四点思考

2019年年尾突如其来的新冠疫情,目前已对国内外政治经济形势造成了剧烈冲击,并有可能演变成为一场全球的经济危机。2020年2月3日,习近平总书记主持召开中共中央政治局常务委员会会议,对疫情防控和经济社会发展重点工作作出部署,提出要求。习近平总书记强调,做好疫情防控工作直接关系人民生命安全和身体健康。4月17日中共中央政治局召开会议,分析国内外新冠肺炎疫情防控形势和当前经济形势,研究部署抓紧抓实抓细常态化疫情防控工作,部署当前经济工作。这次疫情的爆发既是挑战也是机遇,因此,笔者提出了关于新冠疫情的四点思考。     

Measuring employment during COVID-19: challenges and opportunities

Business Economics - Measuring the economy during COVID-19 has created a set of hurdles and prospects for the U.S. statistical agencies, the private sector, and academia. This included how to deal...     

Cohesion,COVID-19 and contemporary challenges to globalization

In the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, the decades-long, pan-continental globalization consensus was being questioned. In our view, the pandemic has accelerated the rate at which the globalization consensus is being defied. To better understand the implications of this defiance, we turn to research on people, organizations and international competition to see whether this defiance weakens the cohesion needed to keep globalization moving apace. People and organizations create cohesive forces that can link and constrain the differences that are encountered when people and organizations move across international borders. Meanwhile, the nature of international competition, particularly as connected to the level of active involvement by state actors, can lead to fractures that reduce cohesion across polities and societies.     

CPPIT Action to Combat the COVID-19

Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus in Wuhan in December 2019,this epidemic soon spread out across the country.The World Health Organization(WHO)has declared the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern on January 30.The epidemic impact on companies trading internationally have attracted world attention.     

COVID-19 and the Political Economy of Shared Adjustment

Intereconomics - By April 2021, the COVID-19 crisis in Europe had reached a magnitude that, in the eyes of some observers, either deepened lingering divides and threatened the EU’s very...     

Dependence dynamics of stock markets during COVID-19

Stock markets have exhibited increased returns connectedness during the COVID-19 period. We examine the returns dependence among 42 stock markets classified under various emerging and developed groupings. We apply several dependence measures to examine the returns connectedness among the markets. Our results show that stock markets from the G-7 and Emerging Frontier and Asian (EFA) region exhibit high connectedness with other international markets, while Middle East and North African (MENA) and Latin American (LA) stock markets offer high diversification opportunities through low returns connectedness. The returns coherence of Central and East European (CEE) and G-7 markets increase significantly during the COVID-19 period which supports the hypothesis of contagion. However, during the pandemic MENA stock markets (excluding Greece) and most EFA markets (excluding China, Singapore and Korea) remain less cointegrated with other international equity markets. Our results have implications for individual and institutional investors, fund managers and other financial market stakeholders.     

Economic Recovery in the Age of COVID-19

Economic recovery post-COVID-19 will be structured around answering a number of fundamental questions. It is necessary to take stock of the extent of the recovery and of the transformation our economies have experienced in the last year and a half.

     

COVID-19: Lockdowns,Fatality Rates and GDP Growth

Intereconomics - The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an unprecedented economic crisis. This article analyses the impact of mandatory social distancing imposed by lockdown policies and voluntary...     

COVID-19 and tail risk contagion across commodity futures markets

This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on tail risk contagion across commodity futures markets using a copula-based network method. We document a significant increase in the lower and upper tail contagiousness of commodities following the COVID-19 outbreak. Contagion shows an obvious clustering characteristic, that is, there is higher tail risk connectedness between commodities in the same category. Agricultural commodities are significantly less contagious than metals and energy commodities; soft commodities in particular can offer investors significant diversification benefits. There are several hub commodities in the contagion network, chief among them copper, which are good transmitters of shocks and should be treated with caution by investors and regulators. Although tail risk and contagiousness of individual commodities increase together during the pandemic, we find a negative cross-sectional relationship between tail risk and contagiousness, that is, commodities with high tail risk are not necessarily highly contagious and may even be less so.