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Uncertainty about the war in Ukraine: Measurement and effects on the German economy

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  • Grebe, Moritz
  • Kandemir, Sinem
  • Tillmann, Peter

Abstract

We assemble a data set of more than eight million German Twitter posts related to the war in Ukraine. Based on state-of-the-art methods of text analysis, we construct a daily index of uncertainty about the war as perceived by German Twitter. We then estimate a VAR model with daily financial and macroeconomic data and identify an exogenous uncertainty shock. The increase in uncertainty has strong effects on financial markets and causes a significant decline in economic activity as well as an increase in expected inflation. We find the effects of uncertainty to be particularly strong in the first months of the war.

Suggested Citation

  • Grebe, Moritz & Kandemir, Sinem & Tillmann, Peter, 2024. "Uncertainty about the war in Ukraine: Measurement and effects on the German economy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 493-506.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:217:y:2024:i:c:p:493-506
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.11.015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Pawlowski, Tim & Rambaccussing, Dooruj & Ramirez, Philip & Reade, J. James & Rossi, Giambattista, 2024. "Exploring entertainment utility from football games," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 185-198.
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    5. Lukas Hack & Davud Rostam-Afschar, 2024. "Understanding Firm Dynamics with Daily Data," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_593, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    6. Szczygielski, Jan Jakub & Charteris, Ailie & Obojska, Lidia & Brzeszczyński, Janusz, 2025. "Energy in turmoil: Industry resilience to uncertainty during the global energy crisis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 389(C).
    7. Kejin Wu & Sayar Karmakar & Rangan Gupta, 2023. "GARCHX-NoVaS: A Model-free Approach to Incorporate Exogenous Variables," Papers 2308.13346, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2024.
    8. Bondarenko, Yevheniia & Lewis, Vivien & Rottner, Matthias & Schüler, Yves, 2024. "Geopolitical risk perceptions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    9. Burak Pirgaip & Mehmet Baha Karan & Kazim Baris Atici, 2025. "Role of Energy Policy in Shaping German-Russian Relations through Economic Policy Uncertainties: Insights from the Russo-Ukrainian War," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2025(4), pages 657-685.
    10. Anastasiou, Dimitris & Ftiti, Zied & Louhichi, Waël & Rizos, Anastasios & Stratopoulou, Artemis, 2025. "The influence of oil investors' sentiment on inflation dynamics and uncertainty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets

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