Using a panel of 140 countries covering the period 1996-2018, this paper examines how pandemics influence the lending behavior of banks. We take advantage of a new index developed by Ahir et al. (2020) which measures discussions about pandemics at the country level. The results of the...

We examine the relationship between cryptocurrencies (namely Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP)) and COVID-19 cases/deaths. The Wavelet coherence analysis indicates that there is initially a negative relationship between Bitcoin and the number of reported cases and deaths; however,...

The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated both the risk and volatility of energy companies. Can mass vaccinations restore stability within this sector? To answer this question, we investigate stock market data from fifty-eight countries from January 2020 to April 2021. We document that vaccination...

The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a remarkable impact on stock market volatility around the globe. Can vaccination programs revert these adverse effects? To answer this question, we scrutinize daily data from 66 countries from January 1st, 2020, to February 18th, 2021. We provide convincing...

This paper examines the impact of vaccination programs on the stock market volatility of the travel and leisure sector. Using daily data from 56 countries over the period from January 2020 to March 2021, we find that vaccination leads to a decrease in the investment risk of travel and leisure...

What determines a country's financial immunity to a global pandemic? To answer this question, we investigate the behavior of 67 equity markets around the world during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. We consider a multidimensional data set that includes factors from finance, economic,...