We analyze the dynamic changes in individuals’ lifestyle during the COVID-19 outbreak and recovery period through a survey of 1061 Chinese households. Specifically, we are interested in individuals’ bodyweight, time allocation and food choices. We find that COVID-19 is associated with weight gain, less time spent on exercise and more time on entertainment. The proportion of online food purchase and snack purchases also shows an upward trend. This study provides useful implications on the impact of COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns on individuals’ lifestyle and offers foresights for countries in different stages of the pandemic. It explains how encouraging exercise, managing new food purchase venues, and reducing the intake of unhealthy food such as snacks may also need to be considered in dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19.
While fund managers are connected by interpersonal linkages, the investment strategy of a mutual fund would follow a similar pattern due to interpersonal communications and information exchange. This paper focuses on the connection of fund managers via a shared educational network (university alumni connection) in China. Based on a manually collected dataset with the detailed transaction and manager information, our results were threefold: (1) Mutual fund managers with an alumni connection tend to have similar portfolio allocation; the network effect is heterogeneous for different manager characteristics, fund characteristics, and alumni types. (2) A dynamic learning strategy for fund managers exists where they tend to mimic the past portfolio choices of others within the alumni network. (3) The performance of connected funds is worsened by the degree of the connection.
8 December 2021 in Review of Development Economics