The impact of public attention during the COVID-19 pandemic

Federico Platania, Celina Toscano Hernandez, Manuel Moreno and Francesco Appio

Finance Research Letters, 2023, vol. 58, issue PA

Abstract: We examine the impact of public attention on the market during the COVID-19 outbreak. We use Google search engine to measure the level of public attention towards pandemic-related topics and analyze the effect on the 11 S&P sectors. Our results indicate that pandemic-related public attention has a substantial and adverse impact on the market. Furthermore, as governments often increase and announce stimulus packages during periods of heightened uncertainty and negative public attention, our findings indicate that higher levels of economic policy uncertainty, which are often accompanied by financial incentive announcements, can mitigate the negative impact of public attention.

Keywords: COVID-19; Uncertainty; Public attention; Digital technologies; Google (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G01 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:finlet:v:58:y:2023:i:pa:s1544612323006943

DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2023.104322

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