We investigate the effect of the governments’ responses to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic on the returns in the stock market index. Panel data of 20 countries are used spanning January 2 to July 21, 2020, for the dynamic panel model. The results indicate that the overall government response, containment and health, and stringency indices have a significantly positive effect on stock market returns. Specifically, government policy responses of shutting down workplaces, canceling public events, restricting public gatherings and international travel, providing income support, and implementing fiscal measures can increase stock market returns. Our evidence shows that the stock market does not react significantly to government interventions in the health system. We believe that our findings provide valuable information for policymakers and financial investors around the world.

Research background: As an outcome of a global consensus on combating climate change, green finance is expected to play an important role in promoting green growth and innovation progress. Some studies note that green credit policy yields a negative influence on green innovation, while how green finance affects renewable energy innovation has received scant attention in academia. This study focuses on the impact of green finance on renewable energy innovation. Purpose of the article: This research investigates the influence of green finance on an economy's renewable energy innovation by using green bond data from the Climate Bonds Initiative. This research further tests whether it varies for different kinds of energy types and economic development levels. Given that policies are key to renewable energy technology development, this research checks whether government stability changes the relationship between green finance and renewable energy innovation. Methods: Using the panel fixed effects model and big-scale data from 64 economies worldwide during the period 2014-2019, we investigate green finance's impact on renewable energy innovation. In the robustness test, the dynamic panel model and the panel Tobit model are employed. Findings & value added: This research finds that green finance has a positive effect on renewable energy innovation. This effect is prominent in non-OECD economies as well as middle-income and low-income economies. Government stability enhances the influence of green finance on renewable energy innovation. Moreover, the results indicate that green finance mainly promotes innovation progress for wind energy and produces little effect for other renewable energies. The subsample analysis also sheds light on the heterogeneity of the role of green finance in promoting renewable energy innovation.

This research examines the impact of government ideology on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic based on the daily data of 143 countries from January 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021. By using the panel corrected standard errors model, the results show that a right-wing ruling party is linked with a greater number of new daily confirmed cases and deaths of COVID-19. This impact also appears in the samples of non-OECD countries and Asian countries, and the impact of government ideology on the COVID-19 epidemic is more pronounced in Asian countries. Moreover, we find that government ideology had no effect on COVID-19 before March 11, 2020, while after that time it played a significant role in controlling the epidemic, because of the announcement of a “global pandemic” from the World Health Organization on March 11. In sum, our findings deepen the understanding of the relationship between government ideology and COVID-19 epidemic.

Water resources play a vital role in human life and agriculture irrigation, especially for agriculture-dominant developing countries and regions. Improving agricultural water use efficiency has consequently become a key strategic choice. This study, based on Zhangye City’s economic characteristics and data, applies a static Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model with a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) composited water−land resources account to assess the impact of improving agricultural water use efficiency on economy, water conservation and land reallocation. Results reveal that: Zhangye City’s GDP increases by 0.10% owing to an increasing average technical level by improving agricultural water use efficiency; total water consumption decreases by 122 million m³, 69% of which comes from a reduction of surface water use; and land demand increases by 257.43 hectares mainly due to agricultural land demands. With respect to the sectors’ output, export-oriented sectors with higher water intensities in the agricultural sectors benefit most. In contrast, land-intensive sectors contract the most, as the rental price of land rises. Therefore, agricultural water conservation technology should be introduced considering more in surface water. Furthermore, higher demand for agricultural land would reduce land availability for other sectors, thus inhibiting urbanization pace on a small scale.