An evaluation of the impact of mitigation policies on health and the economy by managing social distancing during outbreaks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated various unavoidable social restrictions, leading to questions about the effectiveness of public emergency interventions and their impact economic growth. Block et al. (2020) conducted a notably study using an agent-based model to evaluate policies for reducing contact and demonstrated how choices in contact behavior can influence the rate and spread of the virus. However, their approach did not consider the economic consequences of these social restrictions. In response, we propose a set of strategies for governments to plan and evaluate policies during emergencies, aiming to contain infections while minimizing negative economic consequences. Our results indicate that there is no trade-off between containment strategies and economic output loss, making containment measures necessary policy instruments. However, potential trade-offs do emerge when selecting the most effective strategy. In this context, we propose and evaluate various policy alternatives to extreme "social distancing" measures, which can partially restore essential social interactions while preventing economic disasters induced by productivity losses.

Interacting locally, acting globally: trust and proximity in social networks for the development of energy communities.

In this article, we analyze the role of social capital in the formation of sustainable energy communities. Specifically, we study the impact of different dimensions of social capital (i.e., structural, relational, cognitive) in determining willingness to participate in an energy community. Our survey data suggest that social contexts contribute to the development of energy communities, via (at least) two channels: (i) a family path, with individual perspectives showing a partial correlation with those of at least one relative, and (ii) a social channel, with higher social trust and greater interaction with neighbors favoring the propensity to participate in an energy community. The social coordination required for the formation of sustainable energy communities is determined by the quality of social interactions, and the spread of virtuous behavior is determined by not only economic policies (i.e., incentives), but also forward-looking policies favoring local aggregation and the creation of high-quality social capital. Thus, local actions and interactions can contribute to solving global climate change challenges.

The day after tomorrow: financial repercussions of COVID-19 on systemic risk.

In this paper, we study the financial repercussions of COVID-19 and the effect of anti-epidemic measures on financial markets. By using a composite dataset containing stock market indices of 10 countries characterized by heterogeneous levels of contagion, the daily COVID-19 cases and the 108 more restrictive measures implemented to limit the virus from 31/12/2019 to 13/03/2020, we examine the emergence of financial systemic risk, its speed of propagation and the effectiveness of the policies implemented to curb it. On the one hand, the spread of contagion and its transmission on financial markets are investigated via a lagged cross-correlation analysis. Our results show the emergence of systemic risk characterized by a high speed of diffusion. On the other hand, an augmented AR(1)-EGARCH(1,1) model is applied to examine the impact of anti-COVID-19 "policies on financial markets. We show that, regardless of the level of contagion, the restrictive measures are not able to contain the virus-induced investors panic in the first months of the epidemic.

Who raised from the abyss? A comparison between cryptocurrency and stock market dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research examines the behaviour of cryptocurrencies and stock markets during the COVID-19 pandemic through the wavelet coherence approach and Markov switching autoregressive model. Our results show a financial contagion in March, since both cryptocurrency and stock prices fell steeply. Despite this turn-down, cryptocurrencies promptly rebounded, while stock markets are trapped in the bear phase. In other words, we observe that the price dynamics during the pandemic depends on the type of the market. These findings are relevant for investors since some hedging properties can be found in the cryptocurrency response to such a drastic event.

Good vibes only: The crypto-optimistic behavior.

This paper aims at investigating the relationship between news-driven sentiments and the convergence of behavior in cryptocurrencies market, contributing to the existing literature in the field. The novelty stands in the relation set between the tone of news and returns dispersion. The average daily sentiment score deriving from a worldwide online news dataset has been exploited as a proxy of market humor, in the attempt to identify how emotions spread by the press are related to traders' actions. By employing both Cross-sectional standard (CSSD) and absolute (CSAD) deviation, it is found that the rises and falls of optimism shape returns variability. Indeed, the paper evidences how an increase of news positivity is associated with a lower returns dispersion, evidencing the convergence of beliefs among investors.