The impact of COVID-19 on global investor attention

Abstract

This research explores the effect of COVID-19 on global investor attention using data from G7 and G20 countries. We take the numbers of COVID-19 new confirmed cases and deaths to measure the level of COVID-19. The empirical findings show that COVID-19 new cases and deaths significantly positively correlate to (abnormal) investor attention, especially for G7 countries, but we only see a significantly positive correlation in a few G20 countries. We further consider the effect of COVID-19 variants and vaccination rate on such a correlation and present that its effect on global investor attention is more pronounced during the Alpha variant and Delta variant waves. Finally, we provide evidence when vaccination rates are higher that the positive COVID-19 and global investor attention nexus weakens.