This research is willing to evaluate the behavior and characteristics of a worldwide pandemic economic crisis (COVID-19) and a global financial crisis in the year 2008. We propose a new indicator to compare these two types of crises. The new indicator is entitled “The economic leakage Index...

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...

The COVID-19 crisis paralyzed huge parts of the planet in weeks. It not only infected the population but injected a gargantuan dose of uncertainty into the system. In that regard, as in many others, it is a phenomenon without precedent. As of the time of writing (May–June 2020), we are...

This paper analyzes bank stock prices around the world to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the banking sector. Using a global database of policy responses during the crisis, the paper also examines the role of financial sector policy announcements on the performance of bank stocks....

The Latin American economy has been suffering from low economic growth and is now hit particularly hard by the COVID-19-crisis. We find that Latin America has a relatively large informal sector of which only 6.7% is able to work from home and which has on average negative (median) savings. We...