Does economic policy uncertainty affect cryptocurrency markets? Evidence from Twitter-based uncertainty measures

Using daily data from August 9, 2015, to July 7, 2020, this study examines the effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the returns of four cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple. To this end, two new measures of EPU (Twitter-based economic uncertainty and Twitter-based market uncertainty) are considered. A Granger causality test using the recursive evolving window approach shows a significant causality between the Twitter-based EPU measures and the BTC/USD exchange rate from October 2016 to July 2017. Moreover, a significant causality was noted from the EPU measures to the ETH/USD exchange rate from June 2019 to February 2020 and from the EPU measures to the XRP/USD exchange rate from January 2020 to February 2020. The Twitter-based EPU measures primarily positively affect the returns of the related cryptocurrencies during these periods. These results are robust to different measures of Twitter-based EPU and different econometric techniques. Potential implications, including the COVID-19 era, are also discussed.     

COVID-19, commuting flows,and air quality

Fossil-fuel burning transportation methods significantly contribute to air pollution. During the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea experienced a 10-20% decline in commuting flows, even without government-mandated stay-at-home orders. This paper quantifies the impact that decreased commuting flows have on PM_2.5, PM₁₀, NO₂, CO, and SO₂, using municipality level commuting data. We find that a 1% decrease in commuting flows decreases air pollutants by 0.08-0.17%, after controlling for seasonality and time-varying local production. The effect was higher in regions with high initial pollution, and people recognized air quality improvements. These results emphasize the importance of encouraging cleaner transportation methods after the pandemic.     

Creating a safe haven during the crisis: How organizations can achieve deep compliance with COVID-19 safety measures in the hospitality industry

The COVID-19 health crisis has engendered a set of additional health and safety regulations and procedures (e.g. social distancing) to the hospitality industry. The purpose of this paper is to explore in-depth how organizations can facilitate employees’ deep compliance with these procedures. Employing an instrumental case-study approach, we collected multi-level interview data and archival data in a small-medium sized restaurant in China. The findings reveal that employees’ deep compliance with safety procedures includes a four-stage psychological process, and this process is underpinned by both management safety practices and organizational crisis strategies. As the hospitality industry starts to exit lockdown and ramp up operations, this study offers theoretical and practical insights on how organizations in hospitality can protect the health and safety of their employees and the broader community.     

Effects of hiring former employees of multinationals in the absorptive capacity of local firms

The attraction of foreign direct investment seeks, among other things, to increase the productivity of local companies through knowledge spillovers. However, the empirical evidence in this regard is contradictory. One influential factor is the absorptive capacity of the local companies. This article analyzes the effect of the presence of former employees of multinational corporations as employees of local companies, on the absorptive capacity of said companies. The study was done in Costa Rica, a country known for its successful strategy in the subject matter. The data come from a survey applied to 1167 companies by the Observatorio Costarricense de las Pymes in 2011. It was found that the hiring of former employees of multinational corporations by local companies has a positive effect on the index of absorptive capacity of companies in all productive sectors. Specifically, this hiring of former employees increases the index of absorptive capacity by nine percentage points, with differences by sector and the size of the company.     

Forecasting the Covid-19 recession and recovery: Lessons from the financial crisis

We consider simple methods to improve the growth nowcasts and forecasts obtained by mixed-frequency MIDAS and UMIDAS models with a variety of indicators during the Covid-19 crisis and recovery period, such as combining forecasts across various specifications for the same model and/or across different models, extending the model specification by adding MA terms, enhancing the estimation method by taking a similarity approach, and adjusting the forecasts to put them back on track using a specific form of intercept correction. Among these methods, adjusting the original nowcasts and forecasts by an amount similar to the nowcast and forecast errors made during the financial crisis and subsequent recovery seems to produce the best results for the US, notwithstanding the different source and characteristics of the financial crisis. In particular, the adjusted growth nowcasts for 2020Q1 get closer to the actual value, and the adjusted forecasts based on alternative indicators become much more similar, all unfortunately indicating a much slower recovery than without adjustment, and very persistent negative effects on trend growth. Similar findings also emerge for forecasts by institutions, for survey forecasts, and for the other G7 countries.     

试探IGF2和H19基因与韦伯综合征的关系

笔者就韦伯综合征（Beckwith Wiedemannsyndrome,BWS）的特征,及IGF2与H19印迹基因各自生物学生性、印迹状况以及与BWS疾病的关系展开了详尽阐述。     

新冠肺炎疫情对我国财政经济的影响及其应对之策

新冠肺炎疫情的发生对我国财政经济造成重大冲击。本文基于当前疫情发展信息,初步评估其对2020年财政收支的影响程度。研究发现,新冠肺炎疫情将导致2020年财政减收增支在1.2—1.7万亿元之间,做好今年的财政平衡工作“压力山大”。因此本文提出,要财政收入、财政支出、赤字债务“三管齐下”、多措并举,一方面调整支出结构,提高赤字率和债务规模,另一方面积极挖掘收入侧的潜力,提高财政部门对于政府收入的统筹安排能力,努力谋求2020年财政收支基本平衡,全力支持国民经济实现“六稳”,保持经济社会稳定。     

准确把握当前疫情防控新形势新任务 全力抓好金融支持疫情防控和复工复产工作

新冠肺炎疫情发生以来,浙江省金融系统积极响应,快速落实,对内严格疫情排查防控,对外做实金融服务保障,及时出台疫情防控金融服务政策措施,精准用好专项再贷款资金,主动对接疫情防控领域重点企业生产资金需求,全力构建本外币政策绿色通道,充分发挥金融在疫情防控工作中的重要作用。当前,我省疫情防控工作已经进入新阶段,全省金融系统要进一步巩固阶段性成果,切实帮扶受疫情影响的困难企业,全面做好复工复产金融服务,坚决打赢疫情防控阻击战。     

比利时传染病防控应急体系与应急措施

2019新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情暴发给中国乃至全球公共卫生带来了重大挑战。比利时在传染病防控方面具有丰富的经验。本研究通过检索相关文献及政策资料,回顾比利时针对传染性疾病的应急管理的法律法规、组织框架、经费、应急系统,并以比利时2014年埃博拉疫情防控为例,总结比利时防控传染病政策和措施的成功经验。在此基础上,针对2019冠状病毒提出防治措施建议:设立永久性传染病风险评估工作组;利用大数据构建突发传染病主动防控云平台;定期开展针对突发传染病防控的相关演习等。     

应对疫情冲击的财税政策建议

公共财政的主要职能就是提供满足公共需要的产品与服务,公共卫生是其重要组成部分。面对新冠肺炎疫情,财政需要在支持抓好疫情防控工作的前提下,深入系统分析新冠肺炎疫情对我国经济社会发展造成的影响,进一步发挥财政职能作用,帮助企业渡过难关、恢复生产,努力保持经济社会平稳健康发展。