EFFECT OF COVID 19 PANDEMICS ON INSURANCE INDUSTRY IN TURKEY: EVIDENCE FROM BIST INSURANCE INDEX

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected both human and economic life since the first half of 2020, has significantly affected the insurance sector as well as many sectors in the economy. The impact of this change on the insurance industry has not yet been clarified. In the limited literature, there are claims that this situation may have different consequences on the insurance sector in the short and long term. For this reason, this study measures the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the insurance industry. In this study, which investigated whether the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the insurance sector cause different results in the short and long term, it was determined that there exists an asymmetric linkage running from COVID-19 pandemic to the performance of the insurance sector. On the other hand, an increase in the number of cases would not affect the insurance sector neither positive nor negative. Furthermore, findings demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant effects only in the short and medium term by using advanced causality analysis methods.