This policy brief reports on the activity of online platforms during the COVID-19 crisis. Google Trends data for OECD and other G20 countries indicate that in some areas (such as retail sales, restaurant delivery, and mobile payments) online-platform use increased markedly during the first half...

The present study investigates the degree of market responses through the scope of investors’ sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic across G20 markets, by constructing a novel positive search volume index for COVID-19 (COVID19+). Our key findings, obtained using a Panel-GARCH model, indicate...

We study the distribution of equity returns in the G20 equity markets to test for contagion following the first official report of a COVID19 case in China in December 2019 and the subsequent announcement of a global pandemic in March 2020. We find evidence of contagion of Chinese equity market...

This paper analyzes the size and nature of green fiscal stimulus policies in the G20 countries in response to the COVID-19 crisis. We exploit a new dataset, the Energy Policy Tracker (EPT), with detailed information on countries’ policies since the start of the pandemic. Between January 2020...

The present study investigates the degree of market responses through the scope of investors’ sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic across G20 markets, by constructing a novel positive search volume index for COVID-19. Our key findings, obtained using a Panel-GARCH model, indicate that an...

This paper analyses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on stock market returns and their volatility in the case of the G20 countries. In contrast to the existing empirical literature, which typically focuses only on either Covid-19 deaths or lockdown policies, our analysis is based on a...