IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/glofin/v50y2021ics1044028321000661.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are safe haven assets really safe during the 2008 global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic?

Author

Listed:
  • Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar
  • Hassan, M. Kabir
  • Rashid, Md. Mamunur
  • Alhenawi, Yasser

Abstract

This study evaluates the safe-haven role of twelve assets against the US stock market during the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC) and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results show that silver and the Islamic stock index were safe havens during the 2008 GFC, and the Islamic stock index and Tether have been safe havens during COVID-19. We observe that the Islamic stock index and Tether have emerged as strong new safe havens. However, our supplementary analysis reveals that gold and Bitcoin still exhibit safe-haven behavior during severe market downturns. Overall, our findings suggest that safe-haven assets may vary over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Hassan, M. Kabir & Rashid, Md. Mamunur & Alhenawi, Yasser, 2021. "Are safe haven assets really safe during the 2008 global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:glofin:v:50:y:2021:i:c:s1044028321000661
    DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2021.100668
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044028321000661
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.gfj.2021.100668?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dirk G. Baur & Brian M. Lucey, 2010. "Is Gold a Hedge or a Safe Haven? An Analysis of Stocks, Bonds and Gold," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 217-229, May.
    2. Brian M. Lucey & Sile Li, 2015. "What precious metals act as safe havens, and when? Some US evidence," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 35-45, January.
    3. Ricardo J. Caballero & Arvind Krishnamurthy, 2008. "Collective Risk Management in a Flight to Quality Episode," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(5), pages 2195-2230, October.
    4. Reboredo, Juan C., 2013. "Is gold a safe haven or a hedge for the US dollar? Implications for risk management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2665-2676.
    5. M. E. Arouri & H. Ben Ameur & N. Jawadi & F. Jawadi & W. Louhichi, 2013. "Are Islamic finance innovations enough for investors to escape from a financial downturn? Further evidence from portfolio simulations," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(24), pages 3412-3420, August.
    6. Moazzam Farooq & Sajjad Zaheer, 2015. "Are Islamic Banks More Resilient during Financial Panics?," IMF Working Papers 2015/041, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Kaul, Aditya & Sapp, Stephen, 2006. "Y2K fears and safe haven trading of the U.S. dollar," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 760-779, August.
    8. Rao, Purnima & Goyal, Nisha & Kumar, Satish & Hassan, M. Kabir & Shahimi, Shahida, 2021. "Vulnerability of financial markets in India: The contagious effect of COVID-19," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    9. Baur, Dirk G. & McDermott, Thomas K., 2010. "Is gold a safe haven? International evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1886-1898, August.
    10. Dirk G Baur & Kristoffer Glover, 2012. "A Gold Bubble?," Working Paper Series 175, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.
    11. Bekiros, Stelios & Boubaker, Sabri & Nguyen, Duc Khuong & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2017. "Black swan events and safe havens: The role of gold in globally integrated emerging markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PB), pages 317-334.
    12. Zhang, Dayong & Hu, Min & Ji, Qiang, 2020. "Financial markets under the global pandemic of COVID-19," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    13. Wen, Xiaoqian & Cheng, Hua, 2018. "Which is the safe haven for emerging stock markets, gold or the US dollar?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 69-90.
    14. Baur, Dirk G. & McDermott, Thomas K.J., 2016. "Why is gold a safe haven?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(C), pages 63-71.
    15. Yarovaya, Larisa & Elsayed, Ahmed H. & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2021. "Determinants of Spillovers between Islamic and Conventional Financial Markets: Exploring the Safe Haven Assets during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    16. Klein, Tony & Pham Thu, Hien & Walther, Thomas, 2018. "Bitcoin is not the New Gold – A comparison of volatility, correlation, and portfolio performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 105-116.
    17. Conlon, Thomas & McGee, Richard, 2020. "Safe haven or risky hazard? Bitcoin during the Covid-19 bear market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    18. Himadri Rajput & Rahil Changotra & Prachi Rajput & Sneha Gautam & Anjani R. K. Gollakota & Amarpreet Singh Arora, 2021. "A shock like no other: coronavirus rattles commodity markets," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 6564-6575, May.
    19. Grisse, Christian & Nitschka, Thomas, 2015. "On financial risk and the safe haven characteristics of Swiss franc exchange rates," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 153-164.
    20. Aysan, Ahmet Faruk & Demir, Ender & Gozgor, Giray & Lau, Chi Keung Marco, 2019. "Effects of the geopolitical risks on Bitcoin returns and volatility," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 511-518.
    21. Li, Sile & Lucey, Brian M., 2017. "Reassessing the role of precious metals as safe havens–What colour is your haven and why?," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 1-14.
    22. Asli Demirguk-Kunt & Thorsten Beck & Ouarda Merrouche, 2013. "Islamic Banking versus Conventional Banking: Business model, Efficiency, and Stability," Post-Print hal-01638080, HAL.
    23. Bredin, Don & Conlon, Thomas & Potì, Valerio, 2015. "Does gold glitter in the long-run? Gold as a hedge and safe haven across time and investment horizon," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 320-328.
    24. Hood, Matthew & Malik, Farooq, 2013. "Is gold the best hedge and a safe haven under changing stock market volatility?," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 47-52.
    25. Bouri, Elie & Molnár, Peter & Azzi, Georges & Roubaud, David & Hagfors, Lars Ivar, 2017. "On the hedge and safe haven properties of Bitcoin: Is it really more than a diversifier?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 192-198.
    26. Glosten, Lawrence R & Jagannathan, Ravi & Runkle, David E, 1993. "On the Relation between the Expected Value and the Volatility of the Nominal Excess Return on Stocks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(5), pages 1779-1801, December.
    27. Angelo Ranaldo & Paul Söderlind, 2010. "Safe Haven Currencies," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 14(3), pages 385-407.
    28. Klein, Tony, 2017. "Dynamic correlation of precious metals and flight-to-quality in developed markets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 283-290.
    29. Azad, A.S.M.S. & Azmat, Saad & Chazi, Abdelaziz & Ahsan, Amirul, 2018. "Sailing with the non-conventional stocks when there is no place to hide," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-16.
    30. Nelson Areal & Benilde Oliveira & Raquel Sampaio, 2015. "When times get tough, gold is golden," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(6), pages 507-526, April.
    31. Low, Rand Kwong Yew & Yao, Yiran & Faff, Robert, 2016. "Diamonds vs. precious metals: What shines brightest in your investment portfolio?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-14.
    32. Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Mahi, Masnun & Hassan, M. Kabir & Bhuiyan, Abul Bashar, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on stock markets: Conventional vs. Islamic indices using wavelet-based multi-timescales analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    33. Razi Pahlavi Abdul Aziz & Anne‐Sophie Gintzburger, 2009. "Equity‐Based, Asset‐Based and Asset‐Backed Transactional Structures in Shari’a‐Compliant Financing: Reflections on the Current Financial Crisis," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 28(3), pages 270-278, September.
    34. Conlon, Thomas & Corbet, Shaen & McGee, Richard J., 2020. "Are cryptocurrencies a safe haven for equity markets? An international perspective from the COVID-19 pandemic," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    35. Luther, William J. & Salter, Alexander W., 2017. "Bitcoin and the bailout," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 50-56.
    36. Shumi Akhtar & Maria Jahromi & Tom Smith, 2017. "Impact of the global financial crisis on Islamic and conventional stocks and bonds," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(3), pages 623-655, September.
    37. Moazzam Farooq & Sajjad Zaheer, 2015. "Are Islamic Banks More Resilient During Financial Panics?," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 101-124, February.
    38. Sharif, Arshian & Aloui, Chaker & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2020. "COVID-19 pandemic, oil prices, stock market, geopolitical risk and policy uncertainty nexus in the US economy: Fresh evidence from the wavelet-based approach," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    39. Goodell, John W. & Goutte, Stephane, 2021. "Diversifying equity with cryptocurrencies during COVID-19," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    40. Urquhart, Andrew & Zhang, Hanxiong, 2019. "Is Bitcoin a hedge or safe haven for currencies? An intraday analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 49-57.
    41. Beckmann, Joscha & Berger, Theo & Czudaj, Robert, 2015. "Does gold act as a hedge or a safe haven for stocks? A smooth transition approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 16-24.
    42. Hassan, M. Kabir & Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Rashid, Md. Mamunur, 2021. "Using precious metals to hedge cryptocurrency policy and price uncertainty," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    43. Dimitriou, Dimitrios & Kenourgios, Dimitris & Simos, Theodore, 2020. "Are there any other safe haven assets? Evidence for “exotic” and alternative assets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 614-628.
    44. Bouri, Elie & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain & Roubaud, David & Kristoufek, Ladislav & Lucey, Brian, 2020. "Bitcoin, gold, and commodities as safe havens for stocks: New insight through wavelet analysis," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 156-164.
    45. Smales, L.A., 2019. "Bitcoin as a safe haven: Is it even worth considering?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 385-393.
    46. Delle Foglie, Andrea & Panetta, Ida Claudia, 2020. "Islamic stock market versus conventional: Are islamic investing a ‘Safe Haven’ for investors? A systematic literature review," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    47. Ji, Qiang & Zhang, Dayong & Zhao, Yuqian, 2020. "Searching for safe-haven assets during the COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    48. Beck, Thorsten & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Merrouche, Ouarda, 2013. "Islamic vs. conventional banking: Business model, efficiency and stability," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 433-447.
    49. Baur, Dirk G. & Hong, KiHoon & Lee, Adrian D., 2018. "Bitcoin: Medium of exchange or speculative assets?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 177-189.
    50. Md. Bokhtiar Hasan & Masnun Mahi & Tapan Sarker & Md. Ruhul Amin, 2021. "Spillovers of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact on Global Economic Activity, the Stock Market, and the Energy Sector," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, May.
    51. Hkiri, Besma & Hammoudeh, Shawkat & Aloui, Chaker & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2017. "Are Islamic indexes a safe haven for investors? An analysis of total, directional and net volatility spillovers between conventional and Islamic indexes and importance of crisis periods," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 124-150.
    52. Emrah Ismail Cevik & Mehmet Fatih Bugan, 2018. "Regime-dependent relation between Islamic and conventional financial markets," Borsa Istanbul Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 18(2), pages 114-121, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kaczmarek, Tomasz & Będowska-Sójka, Barbara & Grobelny, Przemysław & Perez, Katarzyna, 2022. "False Safe Haven Assets: Evidence From the Target Volatility Strategy Based on Recurrent Neural Network," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    2. Ji, Qiang & Zhang, Dayong & Zhao, Yuqian, 2020. "Searching for safe-haven assets during the COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Enilov, Martin & Mensi, Walid & Stankov, Petar, 2023. "Does safe haven exist? Tail risks of commodity markets during COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    4. Rizvi, Syed Kumail Abbas & Naqvi, Bushra & Mirza, Nawazish & Umar, Muhammad, 2022. "Safe haven properties of green, Islamic, and crypto assets and investor's proclivity towards treasury and gold," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    5. Hampl, Filip & Vágnerová Linnertová, Dagmar & Horváth, Matúš, 2024. "Crypto havens during war times? Evidence from the Russian invasion of Ukraine," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Mokni, Khaled & Youssef, Manel & Ajmi, Ahdi Noomen, 2022. "COVID-19 pandemic and economic policy uncertainty: The first test on the hedging and safe haven properties of cryptocurrencies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Ihsan Erdem Kayral & Ahmed Jeribi & Sahar Loukil, 2023. "Are Bitcoin and Gold a Safe Haven during COVID-19 and the 2022 Russia–Ukraine War?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-22, April.
    8. Cheema, Muhammad A. & Faff, Robert & Szulczyk, Kenneth R., 2022. "The 2008 global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic: How safe are the safe haven assets?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Kabir Hassan, M. & Gider, Zeynullah & Tahsin Rafia, Humaira & Rashid, Mamunur, 2023. "Searching hedging instruments against diverse global risks and uncertainties," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Rashid, Md. Mamunur & Shafiullah, Muhammad & Sarker, Tapan, 2022. "How resilient are Islamic financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    11. Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Mahi, Masnun & Hassan, M. Kabir & Bhuiyan, Abul Bashar, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on stock markets: Conventional vs. Islamic indices using wavelet-based multi-timescales analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    12. Wasiuzzaman, Shaista & Haji Abdul Rahman, Hajah Siti Wardah, 2021. "Performance of gold-backed cryptocurrencies during the COVID-19 crisis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    13. Chemkha, Rahma & BenSaïda, Ahmed & Ghorbel, Ahmed & Tayachi, Tahar, 2021. "Hedge and safe haven properties during COVID-19: Evidence from Bitcoin and gold," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 71-85.
    14. Chung Baek & Thomas Jackman, 2021. "Safe-haven assets for U.S. equities during the 2020 COVID-19 bear market," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 331-335.
    15. Disli, Mustafa & Nagayev, Ruslan & Salim, Kinan & Rizkiah, Siti K. & Aysan, Ahmet F., 2021. "In search of safe haven assets during COVID-19 pandemic: An empirical analysis of different investor types," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    16. Syuhada, Khreshna & Hakim, Arief & Suprijanto, Djoko & Muchtadi-Alamsyah, Intan & Arbi, Lukman, 2022. "Is Tether a safe haven of safe haven amid COVID-19? An assessment against Bitcoin and oil using improved measures of risk," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Talbi, Marwa & Bedoui, Rihab & de Peretti, Christian & Belkacem, Lotfi, 2021. "Is the role of precious metals as precious as they are? A vine copula and BiVaR approaches," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Văn, Lê & Bảo, Nguyễn Khắc Quốc, 2022. "The relationship between global stock and precious metals under Covid-19 and happiness perspectives," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    19. Diniz-Maganini, Natalia & Diniz, Eduardo H. & Rasheed, Abdul A., 2021. "Bitcoin’s price efficiency and safe haven properties during the COVID-19 pandemic: A comparison," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    20. Wen, Fenghua & Tong, Xi & Ren, Xiaohang, 2022. "Gold or Bitcoin, which is the safe haven during the COVID-19 pandemic?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; 2008 GFC; Hedge; Safe haven; US stock market;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C58 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Financial Econometrics
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:glofin:v:50:y:2021:i:c:s1044028321000661. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620162 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.