The Synergistic Approach to Combat the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

Authors

  • Wajid Alam Assistant Professor, Lahore School of Accountancy and Finance, University of Lahore, Pakistan Author
  • Sara Hafeez MPhil Scholar, Lahore School of Accountancy and Finance, University of Lahore, Pakistan Author
  • Saleh Nawaz Khan Assistant Professor, Lahore School of Accountancy and Finance, University of Lahore, Pakistan Author

Keywords:

Stringency Index, Financial Support Index, Health and Containment Index, Policy Measures, COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak is the most severe natural disaster, which spread rapidly, restricted people from gathering, stopped product movement, and entangled entire global businesses. The potential risk that emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic was uncertain. Only effective measures from the government are helpful to combat such outbreaks. Response to Covid-19 varies across countries, depending on economic, cultural, and other relevant factors. Pakistan is one of the countries praised by WHO for combating covid pandemic effectively. This study contributes to the existing stock of literature by examining the synergistic approaches to COVID-19 in the context of Pakistan. Daily data is used for indices comprised of COVID pandemic and policy response from February 2020 to April 2022. The augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test is used for stationarity and regression for accomplishing main objectives. The study's findings further proclaimed that a synergistic approach fights very well against COVID-19 and keeps such a pandemic in control. To the best of our knowledge, there is limited evidence in the literature on policy response with covid-19 outbreak in Pakistan, where WHO has praised Pakistan due to key measures effective in curbing the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak.   

References

Ahmad, R., Ishaq, M. I., & Raza, A. (2023). The blessing or curse of workplace friendship: Mediating role of organizational identification and moderating role of political skills. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 108, 103359.

Ahmad, R., Shahzad, K., Ishaq, M.I. and Aftab, J. (2023), "Supply chain agility and firm performance: testing serial mediations in pharmaceutical industry", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 991-1009. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-11-2022-0586

Akhtar H, Afridi M, Akhtar S, Ahmad H, Ali S, Khalid S, Awan SM, Jahangiri S, Khader YS. Pakistan's Response to COVID-19: Overcoming National and International Hypes to Fight the Pandemic. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 May 19;7(5): doi: 10.2196/28517. PMID: 33877048; PMCID: PMC8136406

Ashraf, B. N. (2020). Stock markets’ reaction to COVID-19: Cases or fatalities? Research in international business and finance, p. 54, 101249.

Ashraf, H. A., Iqbal, J., & Ahmad, M. (2023). Exploring the Nexus of Transformational Leadership, Individual and Organizational Factors in Mitigating Counterproductive Workplace Behavior. Journal of Business and Management Research, 2(2), 71-85.

Ashraf, H. A., Iqbal, J., Munir, W., Islam, A., & Bazmi, F. H. (2023). Unravelling the Threads of Abusive Supervision: Dynamics, Antecedents, Costs, and Consequences (2000-2023). Journal of Policy Research, 9(3), 52-62.

Ahmed, N., Khan, D., Oláh, J., & Popp, J. (2023). A comparative study of the policy response to COVID-19 in the ASEAN region: A dynamic simulated ARDL approach. Plos one, 18(1), e0276973.

Ashraf, H. A., Iqbal, J., Bazmi, F. H., Munir, W., &Azeem, M.(2023). Unlocking Business Performance Potential: Quality Management, Innovation Performanceand Organizational Learning Culture in Focus. Journal of Asian Development Studies, 12(3), 123-139.

Ashraf, H. A., Iqbal, J., & Shah, S. I. U. (2023). Connecting the Dots: How Organizational Commitment Mediates the HR Practices-Turnover Intention Link. International Journal of Management Research and Emerging Sciences, 13(3), 157-179.

Ashraf, H. A., Iqba, J., & Anjum, W. (2023). Greening the Bottom Line: Investigating the

Influence of Green Management Innovation on Firm Financial Performance in the Pakistani Manufacturing Sector. Global Economics Review, 8(2), 291-306

Ahmad, S., Ashraf, H. A., Iqbal, J., Munir, W., Iqbal, Y., & Ali, U. (2023). Silenced by despotic leadership: investigating the mediating effect of job tensions and moderating influence of psycap on employee silence. Russian Law Journal, 11(1), 173-193.

Ashraf, H. A., Ishaq, M. I., & Khan, M. M. (2021). EFQM enablers and business performance relationship: Examining mediating role of organizational learning culture in Pakistani textile sector. Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, 25(4), 431-443.

Baker, S. R., Bloom, N., Davis, S. J., Kost, K. J., Sammon, M. C., & Viratyosin, T. (2020). The unprecedented stock market impact of COVID-19 (No. w26945)—National Bureau of economic research.

Beaulieu, M. C., Cosset, J. C., & Essaddam, N. (2006). Political uncertainty and stock market return: evidence from the 1995 Quebec referendum. Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, 39(2), 621-642.

Baek, S., Mohanty, S. K., & Glambosky, M. (2020). COVID-19 and stock market volatility: An industry-level analysis. Finance research letters, 37, 101748.

Chaudhary, R., Bakhshi, P., & Gupta, H. (2020). Volatility in international stock markets: An empirical study during COVID-19. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 13(9), 208.

Chang, C. P., Feng, G. F., & Zheng, M. (2021). Government fighting pandemic, stock market return, and COVID-19 virus outbreak. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 57(8), 2389–2406.

Chundakkadan, R. (2021). Light a lamp and look at the stock market. Financial Innovation, 7(1), 1-21.

Caporale, G. M., Plastun, A., & Makarenko, I. (2019). Force majeure events and stock market reactions in Ukraine. Brunel University London, Economics and Finance Working Paper Series, 19(5).

Cepoi, C. O. (2020). Asymmetric dependence between stock market returns and news during COVID-19 financial turmoil. Finance Research Letters, p. 36, 101658.

Cevik, E., Kirci Altinkeski, B., Cevik, E. I., & Dibooglu, S. (2022). Investor sentiments and stock markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial Innovation, 8(1), 69.

Cucinotta, D., & Vanelli, M. (2020). WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Acta bio medica: Atenei parmensis, 91(1), 157.

Choi, S. Y. (2021). Analysis of stock market efficiency during crisis periods in the US stock market: Differences between the global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications, p. 574, 125988.

Chen, C. Y., Chang, C. K., Chang, Y. W., Sue, S. C., Bai, H. I., Riang, L., ... & Huang, T. H. (2007). The structure of the SARS coronavirus nucleocapsid protein RNA-binding dimerization domain suggests a mechanism for the helical packaging of viral RNA. Journal of molecular biology, 368(4), 1075–1086.

Fernandez-Perez, A., Gilbert, A., Indriawan, I., & Nguyen, N. H. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic and stock market response: A culture effect. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, p. 29, 100454.

Gao, X., Ren, Y., & Umar, M. (2022). To what extent does COVID-19 drive stock market volatility? A comparison between the US and China. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 35(1), 1686-1706.

Ghufran, M., Ali, S., Ariyesti, F. R., Nawaz, M. A., Aldieri, L., & Xiaobao, P. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 to customers switching intention in the food segments: The push, pull and mooring effects in consumer migration towards organic food. Food Quality and Preference, 99, 104561.

Gul A. Pakistan Lifts Lockdowns, Top UN Diplomat Lauds Anti-Virus Gains. Voice of America. 2020. https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/pakistan-lifts-lockdowns-top-un-diplomat-lauds-anti-virus-gains

He, Q., Liu, J., Wang, S., & Yu, J. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on stock markets. Economic and Political Studies, 8(3), 275-288.

Harjoto, M. A., Rossi, F., Lee, R., & Sergi, B. S. (2021). How do equity markets react to COVID-19? Evidence from emerging and developed countries. Journal of Economics and Business, 115, 105966.

Hale, T., Angrist, N., Kira, B., Petherick, A., Phillips, T., & Webster, S. (2020). Variation in government responses to COVID-19.

Khan, D., Ullah, A., Alim, W., & Haq, I. U. (2022). Does terrorism affect stock market returns and volatility? Evidence from Pakistan's stock exchange. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(1), e2304.

Iqbal, J., Ashraf, H. A.,Islam, A., & Ahmad, M.The Empowerment Bridge (2023). Assessing the Role of Employee Empowerment in Transmitting the Impact of Servant and Transformational Leadership on Creativity and Team Innovation. Journal of Business and Management Research, 2(2), 1–18.

Khanthavit, A. (2020). World and national stock market reactions to COVID-19. ABAC Journal, 40(2), 1-20.

Khan D., Ahmed N., and Mehmed B., Assessing the Impact of Policy Measures in Reducing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of South Asia. Sustainability, 2021. 13(20): p. 1–12

Liu, H., Manzoor, A., Wang, C., Zhang, L., & Manzoor, Z. (2020). The COVID-19 outbreak and affected countries’ stock markets response. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(8), 2800.

Lam H.Y., et al., The epidemiology of COVID-19 cases and the successful containment strategy in Hong Kong–January to May 2020. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2020. 98: p. 51–58. 43.

Magnus P. et al., chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is associated with pandemic influenza infection but not with an adjuvanted influenza vaccine. Vaccine, 2015. 33(46): p. 6173–6177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.10.018

Maseeh, H. I., Nahar, S., Jebarajakirthy, C., Ross, M., Arli, D., Das, M., ... & Ashraf, H. A. (2023). Exploring the privacy concerns of smartphone app users: a qualitative approach. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.41(7).

Mazur, M., Dang, M., & Vega, M. (2021). COVID-19 and the March 2020 stock market crash. Evidence from S&P1500. Finance research letters, 38, 101690.

Nazir, M. S., Younus, H., Kaleem, A., & Anwar, Z. (2014). The impact of political events on the stock market returns empirical evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, 30(1), 60–78.

Ngwakwe, C. C. (2020). Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on global stock market values: a differential analysis. Acta Universitatis Danubius. Œconomica, 16(2), 255-269.

Nawaz, M. R., Ishaq, M. I., Ahmad, R., Faisal, M., & Raza, A. (2022). Team diversity, conflict, and trust: Evidence from the health sector. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 935773.

Onali, E. (2020). Covid-19 and stock market volatility. Available at SSRN 3571453.

Phan, D. H. B., & Narayan, P. K. (2020). Country responses and the reaction of the stock market to COVID-19—A preliminary exposition. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 56(10), 2138-2150.

Ramelli, Stefano, and Alexander F. Wagner. "Feverish stock price reactions to COVID-19." The Review of Corporate Finance Studies 9.3 (2020): 622-655.

Sharif, A., Aloui, C., & Yarovaya, L. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic, oil prices, stock market, geopolitical risk and policy uncertainty nexus in the US economy: Fresh evidence from the wavelet-based approach. International review of financial analysis, 70, 101496.

Sansa, N. A. (2020). The Impact of the COVID-19 on the Financial Markets: Evidence from China and USA. Electronic Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, p. 2.

Singh, B., Dhall, R., Narang, S., & Rawat, S. (2020). The outbreak of COVID-19 and stock market responses: An event study and panel data analysis for G-20 countries. Global Business Review, 1-26.

Shengsheng G., Haichao X., and Fahu C., Spatiotemporal changes of epidemics and their relationship with human living environments in China over the past 2200 years. SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, 2020. 63(8): p. 1223–1226. https://doi.org/1007/s11430-020-9608-x

Wang, L., & Kutan, A. M. (2013). The impact of natural disasters on stock markets: Evidence from Japan and the US. Comparative Economic Studies, 55, 672-686.

Wiloski, C. (2015). Five factors or events that affect the stock market, United States: Hearst Newspapers, LLC. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/fivefactors-events-affect-stock-market-3384.h

Wong M. C., Wong E. L., Huang J., Cheung A. W., Law K., Chong M. K., et al. (2021). Acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine based on the health belief model: A population-based survey in Hong Kong. Vaccine, 39(7), 1148–1156.

World Health Organization, (2021). COVID-19 in Pakistan: WHO fighting tirelessly against the odds. https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/covid-19-in-pakistan-who-fighting-tirelessly-against-the-odds

Younas, A., Ashraf, H. A., & Manzor, T. (2023). Unveiling the Power of Instagram Influencer Marketing: Exploring its Influence on Purchase Intentions and EWOM with Celebrity Endorsement as Mediator. Global Economics Review, 8(1), 241-256.

Yousaf, M., Ishfaq, U., Ahmed, F., Jamal, K., Ashraf, H. A., & Ali, A. (2023) Influence of servant leadership on organizational performance: evidence from hospitals in Pakistan. Russian Law Journal, 11(4), 10-17.

Zafar, Q., Haider, S. N., Janjua, R. Q., Qureshi, H. A., Ashraf, H. A., Ali, A., & Mutupha J. F. (2023). Nexus of employee’s engagement between talent management and career development. Russian Law Journal, 11(4), 39-47.

Zhang, D., Hu, M., & Ji, Q. (2020). Financial markets under the global pandemic of COVID-19: finance research letters, 36, 101528.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-31

How to Cite

The Synergistic Approach to Combat the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Evidence from Pakistan. (2023). International Research Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 4(4), 160-175. https://irjmss.com/index.php/irjmss/article/view/177

Similar Articles

11-20 of 138

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.