IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jecomi/v10y2022i9p214-d908441.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

National Governance Quality, COVID-19, and Stock Index Returns: OECD Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Hamza Almustafa

    (Department of Banking and Financial Sciences, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13133, Jordan)

Abstract

This research argues that national governance quality may moderate the relationship between COVID-19 and stock returns across markets. Building on the well-established relationship between COVID-19 shock and stock returns, we focus on how the quality of a country’s governance system affects the relationship between the COVID-19 crisis and stock returns. Using data from the World Governance Indicators, the World Bank, and the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre (JHU-CRC) for 29 OECD markets from 23 January to 31 December 2020, our findings confirm this hypothesis. Our results suggest that, the estimated coefficient on the interaction term is negative (−0.004) and statistically different from zero at the 5% level of significance. This result can be inferred that the higher the national governance quality is, the weaker the effect of COVID-19 on stock returns will be. Specifically, the negative impact of COVID-19 on stock market returns was more pronounced in countries where the national governance quality index is lower. Our results also show a strong negative association between COVID-19 and stock market returns across the sample. The results are robust to changes in governance quality measures, estimation methods, and explanatory variables. The results have several policy implications such that better institutions may partially offset the adverse impact of the COVID-19 shock on stock market returns.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamza Almustafa, 2022. "National Governance Quality, COVID-19, and Stock Index Returns: OECD Evidence," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:10:y:2022:i:9:p:214-:d:908441
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/10/9/214/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/10/9/214/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nguyen, Tuan & Locke, Stuart & Reddy, Krishna, 2015. "Ownership concentration and corporate performance from a dynamic perspective: Does national governance quality matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 148-161.
    2. Harjoto, Maretno Agus & Rossi, Fabrizio & Lee, Robert & Sergi, Bruno S., 2021. "How do equity markets react to COVID-19? Evidence from emerging and developed countries," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    3. Zaremba, Adam & Kizys, Renatas & Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Aharon, David Y. & Demir, Ender, 2021. "The quest for multidimensional financial immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from international stock markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Semykina, Anastasia & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2010. "Estimating panel data models in the presence of endogeneity and selection," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 157(2), pages 375-380, August.
    5. Eslamloueyan, Karim & Jafari, Mahboubeh, 2019. "Do better institutions offset the adverse effect of a financial crisis on investment? Evidence from East Asia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 154-172.
    6. Sharkasi, Adel & Crane, Martin & Ruskin, Heather J. & Matos, Jose A., 2006. "The reaction of stock markets to crashes and events: A comparison study between emerging and mature markets using wavelet transforms," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 368(2), pages 511-521.
    7. Sun, Yunchuan & Wu, Mengyuan & Zeng, Xiaoping & Peng, Zihan, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on the Chinese stock market: Sentimental or substantial?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    8. Rahman, Md Lutfur & Amin, Abu & Al Mamun, Mohammed Abdullah, 2021. "The COVID-19 outbreak and stock market reactions: Evidence from Australia," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    9. Otuo Serebour Agyemang & John Gartchie Gatsi & Abraham Ansong, 2018. "Institutional structures and financial market development in Africa," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 1488342-148, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hamza Almustafa & Imad Jabbouri & Ploypailin Kijkasiwat, 2023. "Economic Policy Uncertainty, Financial Leverage, and Corporate Investment: Evidence from U.S. Firms," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-19, January.

    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. Mohamed Albaity & Ray Saadaoui Mallek & Hasan Mustafa, 2022. "Bank Stock Return Reactions to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Investor Sentiment in MENA Countries," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, February.
    2. Pham, Son Duy & Nguyen, Thao Thac Thanh & Li, Xiao-Ming, 2024. "Stabilizing global foreign exchange markets in the time of COVID-19: The role of vaccinations," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    3. Monika Bolek & Cezary Bolek, 2024. "Covid-19 Data Manipulation and Reaction of Stock Markets," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 31(1), pages 137-164, March.
    4. Le, Anh-Tuan & Doan, Anh-Tuan & Phan, Thu, 2021. "Institutional development and firm risk from a dynamic perspective: Does ownership structure matter?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 342-357.
    5. Zhang, Xu & Ding, Zhijing & Hang, Jianqin & He, Qizhi, 2022. "How do stock price indices absorb the COVID-19 pandemic shocks?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    6. Jiongye Jin & Jianing Zhang, 2023. "The Stock Performance of Green Bond Issuers During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of China," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 30(1), pages 211-230, March.
    7. Boubaker, Sabri & Goodell, John W. & Kumar, Satish & Sureka, Riya, 2023. "COVID-19 and finance scholarship: A systematic and bibliometric analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Mohammed S. Y. Omran & Mohammad A. A. Zaid & Aladdin Dwekat, 2021. "The relationship between integrated reporting and corporate environmental performance: A green trial," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 427-445, January.
    9. Kamal, Javed Bin & Wohar, Mark, 2023. "Heterogenous responses of stock markets to covid related news and sentiments: Evidence from the 1st year of pandemic," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 68-85.
    10. Hsu, Yu-Lin & Tang, Leilei, 2022. "Effects of investor sentiment and country governance on unexpected conditional volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from global stock markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Nurlan Orazalin & Mady Baydauletov, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility strategy and corporate environmental and social performance: The moderating role of board gender diversity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1664-1676, July.
    12. ?ikolaos A. Kyriazis, 2021. "Impacts of Stock Indices, Oil, and Twitter Sentiment on Major Cryptocurrencies during the COVID-19 First Wave," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 133-146.
    13. Massimo Colombo & Annalisa Croce & Samuele Murtinu, 2014. "Ownership structure, horizontal agency costs and the performance of high-tech entrepreneurial firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 265-282, February.
    14. Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni & Chiara Tomasi, 2016. "Financial constraints and firm exports: accounting for heterogeneity, self-selection, and endogeneity," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(5), pages 813-827.
    15. Tiwari A.K. & Mohnen P. & Palm F.C. & Schim van der Loeff S., 2013. "Microeconometric evidence of financing frictions and innovative activity - a revision," MERIT Working Papers 2013-027, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    16. Emmanuel Chuke Nwude & Musa Sani Zakirai & Comfort Amaka Nwude, 2023. "Ownership Structure and Bank Performance in Emerging Market Economy: Evidence From Nigerian Listed Deposit Money Banks," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    17. Håkan Selin, 2012. "Marginal Tax Rates and Tax‐Favoured Pension Savings of the Self‐Employed: Evidence from Sweden," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(1), pages 79-100, March.
    18. Shen, Yiran & Liu, Chang & Sun, Xiaolei & Guo, Kun, 2023. "Investor sentiment and the Chinese new energy stock market: A risk–return perspective," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 395-408.
    19. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66.
    20. Nam Hoai Tran & Chi Dat Le & David McMillan, 2020. "Ownership concentration, corporate risk-taking and performance: Evidence from Vietnamese listed firms," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 1732640-173, January.

    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:gam:jecomi:v:10:y:2022:i:9:p:214-:d:908441. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.