IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/glofin/v54y2022ics1044028321000429.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pandemic-induced fear and stock market returns: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Su, Zhi
  • Liu, Peng
  • Fang, Tong

Abstract

We construct a pandemic-induced fear (PIF) index to measure fear of the COVID-19 pandemic using Internet search volumes of the Chinese local search engine and empirically investigate the impact of fear of the pandemic on Chinese stock market returns. A reduced-bias estimation approach for multivariate regression is employed to address the issue of small-sample bias. We find that the PIF index has a negative and significant impact on cumulative stock market returns. The impact of PIF is persistent, which can be explained by mispricing from investors' excessive pessimism. We further reveal that the PIF index directly predicts stock market returns through noise trading. Investors' Internet search behaviors enhance the fear of the pandemic, and pandemic-induced fear determines future stock market returns, rather than the number of cases and deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Su, Zhi & Liu, Peng & Fang, Tong, 2022. "Pandemic-induced fear and stock market returns: Evidence from China," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:glofin:v:54:y:2022:i:c:s1044028321000429
    DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2021.100644
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044028321000429
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.gfj.2021.100644?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. Huang, Yun & Luk, Paul, 2020. "Measuring economic policy uncertainty in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Salisu, Afees A. & Akanni, Lateef & Raheem, Ibrahim, 2020. "The COVID-19 global fear index and the predictability of commodity price returns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    3. Amihud, Yakov & Hurvich, Clifford M., 2004. "Predictive Regressions: A Reduced-Bias Estimation Method," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(4), pages 813-841, December.
    4. Josue Cox & Daniel L. Greenwald & Sydney C. Ludvigson, 2020. "What Explains the COVID-19 Stock Market?," NBER Working Papers 27784, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Baker, Malcolm & Stein, Jeremy C., 2004. "Market liquidity as a sentiment indicator," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 271-299, June.
    6. Al-Awadhi, Abdullah M. & Alsaifi, Khaled & Al-Awadhi, Ahmad & Alhammadi, Salah, 2020. "Death and contagious infectious diseases: Impact of the COVID-19 virus on stock market returns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    7. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2006. "Investor Sentiment and the Cross‐Section of Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1645-1680, August.
    8. Zhi Da & Joseph Engelberg & Pengjie Gao, 2015. "Editor's Choice The Sum of All FEARS Investor Sentiment and Asset Prices," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(1), pages 1-32.
    9. Hsieh, Shu-Fan & Chan, Chia-Ying & Wang, Ming-Chun, 2020. "Retail investor attention and herding behavior," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 109-132.
    10. Savor, Pavel G., 2012. "Stock returns after major price shocks: The impact of information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(3), pages 635-659.
    11. Fernandez-Perez, Adrian & Fuertes, Ana-Maria & Gonzalez-Fernandez, Marcos & Miffre, Joelle, 2020. "Fear of hazards in commodity futures markets," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2007. "Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 129-152, Spring.
    13. Lyócsa, Štefan & Baumöhl, Eduard & Výrost, Tomáš & Molnár, Peter, 2020. "Fear of the coronavirus and the stock markets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    14. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    15. Lily Qiu & Ivo Welch, 2004. "Investor Sentiment Measures," NBER Working Papers 10794, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Hudson, Yawen & Yan, Meilan & Zhang, Dalu, 2020. "Herd behaviour & investor sentiment: Evidence from UK mutual funds," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    17. Baig, Ahmed S. & Butt, Hassan Anjum & Haroon, Omair & Rizvi, Syed Aun R., 2021. "Deaths, panic, lockdowns and US equity markets: The case of COVID-19 pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    18. Stambaugh, Robert F., 1999. "Predictive regressions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 375-421, December.
    19. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Kyle J. Kost & Marco C. Sammon & Tasaneeya Viratyosin, 2020. "The Unprecedented Stock Market Impact of COVID-19," NBER Working Papers 26945, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Azi Ben-Rephael & Zhi Da & Ryan D. Israelsen, 2017. "It Depends on Where You Search: Institutional Investor Attention and Underreaction to News," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(9), pages 3009-3047.
    21. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    22. Joseph Engelberg & Caroline Sasseville & Jared Williams, 2012. "Market Madness? The Case of Mad Money," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 351-364, February.
    23. William N. Goetzmann & Dasol Kim & Alok Kumar & Qin Wang, 2015. "Weather-Induced Mood, Institutional Investors, and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(1), pages 73-111.
    24. Bai, Lan & Wei, Yu & Wei, Guiwu & Li, Xiafei & Zhang, Songyun, 2021. "Infectious disease pandemic and permanent volatility of international stock markets: A long-term perspective," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    25. Albulescu, Claudiu Tiberiu, 2021. "COVID-19 and the United States financial markets’ volatility," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    26. Frank, Murray Z. & Sanati, Ali, 2018. "How does the stock market absorb shocks?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(1), pages 136-153.
    27. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "The Limits of Arbitrage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 35-55, March.
    28. Salisu, Afees A. & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2020. "Predicting stock returns in the presence of COVID-19 pandemic: The role of health news," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    29. Fang, Tong & Su, Zhi & Yin, Libo, 2020. "Economic fundamentals or investor perceptions? The role of uncertainty in predicting long-term cryptocurrency volatility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    30. Afees A. Salisu & Lateef O. Akanni, 2020. "Constructing a Global Fear Index for the COVID-19 Pandemic," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 2310-2331, August.
    31. Conghui Chen & Lanlan Liu & Ningru Zhao, 2020. "Fear Sentiment, Uncertainty, and Bitcoin Price Dynamics: The Case of COVID-19," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 2298-2309, August.
    32. Chang, Chia-Lin & McAleer, Michael & Wang, Yu-Ann, 2020. "Herding behaviour in energy stock markets during the Global Financial Crisis, SARS, and ongoing COVID-19," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    33. Ghysels, Eric & Sinko, Arthur, 2011. "Volatility forecasting and microstructure noise," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 160(1), pages 257-271, January.
    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. Hasan, Md. Tanvir, 2022. "The sum of all SCARES COVID-19 sentiment and asset return," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 332-346.
    2. Anastasiou, Dimitris & Ballis, Antonis & Drakos, Konstantinos, 2022. "Constructing a positive sentiment index for COVID-19: Evidence from G20 stock markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Dash, Saumya Ranjan & Maitra, Debasish, 2022. "The COVID-19 pandemic uncertainty, investor sentiment, and global equity markets: Evidence from the time-frequency co-movements," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Szczygielski, Jan Jakub & Charteris, Ailie & Bwanya, Princess Rutendo & Brzeszczyński, Janusz, 2023. "Which COVID-19 information really impacts stock markets?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Piñeiro-Chousa, Juan & López-Cabarcos, M. Ángeles & Quiñoá-Piñeiro, Lara & Pérez-Pico, Ada M., 2022. "US biopharmaceutical companies' stock market reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the concept of the ‘paradoxical spiral’ from a sustainability perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    6. Li, Yuan & Ran, Jimmy, 2020. "Investor Sentiment and Stock Price Premium Validation with Siamese Twins from China," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 57.
    7. Keunbae Ahn, 2021. "Predictable Fluctuations in the Cross-Section and Time-Series of Asset Prices," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 1-2021.
    8. Gong, Xue & Zhang, Weiguo & Wang, Junbo & Wang, Chao, 2022. "Investor sentiment and stock volatility: New evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Abakah, Emmanuel Joel Aikins & Bonsu, Christiana Osei & Karikari, Nana Kwasi & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2022. "The effects of public sentiments and feelings on stock market behavior: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 443-472.
    10. Wenjie Ding & Khelifa Mazouz & Qingwei Wang, 2019. "Investor sentiment and the cross-section of stock returns: new theory and evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 493-525, August.
    11. David C. Ling & Andy Naranjo & Benjamin Scheick, 2014. "Investor Sentiment, Limits to Arbitrage and Private Market Returns," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 42(3), pages 531-577, September.
    12. Edmans, Alex & Fernandez-Perez, Adrian & Garel, Alexandre & Indriawan, Ivan, 2022. "Music sentiment and stock returns around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 234-254.
    13. Rakovská, Zuzana, 2021. "Composite survey sentiment as a predictor of future market returns: Evidence for German equity indices," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 473-495.
    14. Möller, Rouven & Reichmann, Doron, 2023. "COVID-19 related TV news and stock returns: Evidence from major US TV stations," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 95-109.
    15. Fernandez-Perez, Adrian & Garel, Alexandre & Indriawan, Ivan, 2020. "Music sentiment and stock returns," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    16. Wang, Wenzhao & Su, Chen & Duxbury, Darren, 2022. "The conditional impact of investor sentiment in global stock markets: A two-channel examination," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Huynh, Toan Luu Duc & Foglia, Matteo & Nasir, Muhammad Ali & Angelini, Eliana, 2021. "Feverish sentiment and global equity markets during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 1088-1108.
    18. Bucher, Melk C., 2017. "Investor Attention and Sentiment: Risk or Anomaly?," Working Papers on Finance 1712, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance.
    19. Nikos C. Papapostolou & Nikos K. Nomikos & Panos K. Pouliasis & Ioannis Kyriakou, 2014. "Investor Sentiment for Real Assets: The Case of Dry Bulk Shipping Market," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(4), pages 1507-1539.
    20. Yuan Li & Yu Zhang, 2021. "Investor Sentiment, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Stock Price Premium: Evidence From Chinese Cross-Listed Companies," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pandemic; Fear; Stock market returns; Reduced-bias estimator; Internet search volume;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • F37 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Finance Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)

    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:54:y:2022:i:c:s1044028321000429. 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.