How does Covid-19 affect global equity markets?

This study applies OLS,panel regression and Granger causality test to investigate the impact of the Coronavirus disease 2019(Covid-19)outbreak on the global equity markets during the early stage of the pandemic.We find that the Covid-19 outbreak has a significant negative impact on the overall equity index return of the eight economies even at 0.1%significance level.Furthermore,the pandemic has a more significant impact on the European countries than on the East Asian economies.The results have three main implications.Firstly,policy makers should react fast to mitigate the impact of a crisis.Secondly,investors should be aware of an outbreak of disease or other risks and adjust their investments accordingly.Furthermore,the Covid-19 outbreak results in a shift of power from the west to the east.

Efficiency,Equity and Effect:a case study on virtual water consumption characteristics

Scarcity of water is the key factor restricting the growth of social economy.The virtual water theory provides a new way to solve the problem of water scarcity.For this paper,we have calculated the virtual water consumption of each household,grouped by income,of Gansu province for 1992-2005.Then we advanced the indicator of virtual water with per-unit-of-consumption expenditure to analyze the efficiency of virtual water consumption.Additionally,we recurred to the diversity theory advanced by Ulanowicz,which is broadly employed by ecologists and biologists,to analyze the characteristics of virtual water consumption.As a result,the virtual water consumption of each group decreased yearly from 1992 to 2005,on the whole;decreasing proceeded slower during the period of 1992-1997 than during 1998-2005.Per-unit-consumption expenditure of virtual water for each group represents the same characteristics,on the whole,as virtual water consumption.The largest variation of this indicator exists in the group of the lowest income,which ranges from 1.58 to 0.18 m3/Yuan.yr;whereas the least exists in the highest income group,which is 0.58 to 0.07 m3/Yuan.yr.The virtual diversity indicator increased year by year,and the change of this indicator in 1992-1997 was more obvious than in 1998-2005.Finally,from this study we find that,in view of virtual water,we can save water by means of changing consumption patterns and increasing consumption diversity,but without degrading the quality of living and reducing the demands of living.When the problem of water scarcity becomes more and more serious in Gansu of China,this suggestion becomes more and more important.The consumption,the role of guiding production produce,is very important.An unsustainable consumption pattern is the main factor causing the deterioration of the world environment,especially in a developing country.The sustainable consumption is the only way to develop human beings and achieve the economical sustainable economics.

Industry return lead‑lag relationships between the US and other major countries

In this study,we analyze the lead-lag relationships between the US industry index and those of six other major countries from January 1973 to May 2021.We identify the leading role played by the US internationally by showing that the weekly returns of US industries,especially the US basic materials and energy industries,significantly Granger cause the returns of most other countries’industries,suggesting that non-US industries react with some delay to new information.This delayed reaction is even more notice-able during periods of recession in the US when cross-country correlations are higher.This implies that the ability of the lagged returns of US industries to predict industries’returns from other countries is even more pronounced when the US experienced an economic recession.A similar asymmetric relationship is found between the volatil-ity of US industries and that of industries in other markets.The analysis of causality in the distribution of returns and volatility shows that causality runs mainly from the US to other countries,particularly in the presence of extreme negative shocks.Finally,we demonstrate that our predictions are valuable to real-world investors.Long-short strategies generate sizable and statistically significant alphas,and a constant relative risk-averse investor obtains certainty equivalent returns well above the risk-free rate.

Sustainable livelihood security in Odisha, India: A district level analysis

Sustainable livelihood security(SLS) is an integrating framework that encompasses current concerns and policy requirements for ecological, social, and economic dimensions of sustainable development. It carries particular importance for developing economies. This study intends to verify the relative status of SLS of the 30 districts in Odisha, which is a backward state in eastern India. In this study, a total of 22 relevant indicators relating to the three components of SLS—ecological security, social equity, and economic efficiency have been taken, based on various kinds of government reports. The principal component analysis(PCA) was used to ascertain the indicators and the importance of each of them to the corresponding component of SLS. The ecological security index(ESI), social equity index(SEI), economic efficiency index(EEI), and composite sustainable livelihood security index(CSLSI) of each district of Odisha were calculated through the min-max normalization technique. The results revealed that there are wide variations in SLS among the districts of Odisha. In this study, the districts are categorized into four levels based on the scores of ESI, SEI, EEI, and CSLSI as very low(<0.400), low(0.400–0.549), medium(0.550–0.700), and high(>0.700). According to the classification result of CSLSI, 2 districts are found to be in the very low category, 20 districts are under the low sustainability category, 8 districts are in the medium category, and none of the districts are found to be in the high sustainability category. The district of Sambalpur ranks the highest with a CSLSI score of 0.624. The bottom five districts are Gajapati, Bolangir, Nabarangpur, Kandhamal, and Malkangiri, having the CSLSI scores of 0.438, 0.435, 0.406, 0.391, and 0.344, respectively. The result of this study suggests that region-specific, systematic, and proactive approaches are desirable for balanced development in Odisha. Further, policy intervention is required to implement more inclusive tribal welfare policies.