The paper reviews the (a) existing knowledge on corona virus disease (b) policy responses to it, and (c) its impact on the people, economic activities, and environment of India. The pandemic has increased a sense of fear and insecurity among people due to probable job and pay loss. As well, the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government has increased cases of domestic violence and child abuse. The industrial sectors—tourism, aviation, agriculture, construction, retail, hotels, textile, gems/jewellery, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), manufacturing, and start‐ups are temporarily closed leading to a significant revenue loss. Consequently, existence of many sectors and employability of a sizable number of employees is at stake. Despite the economic slowdown, the lockdown has become a boon for the environment to revive due to less pollution and reduced discharge of effluents to water from factories. The policy formulators should consider this as wakeup call and thereby align the people, economy, and environment strategically.

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Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between economic policy uncertainty and stock market liquidity in an order-driven emerging stock market. Design/methodology/approach Empirical estimates are based on vector autoregressive Granger-causality tests, impulse response functions and variance decomposition analysis. Findings The empirical findings suggest that economic policy uncertainty moderately influences stock market liquidity during normal market conditions. However, the role of economic policy uncertainty for determining stock market liquidity is significant in times of financial crises. The authors have also observed a significant portion of variation in stock market liquidity that is attributed to investor sentiments during financial crises. Originality/value This study is original in nature and provides evidence to consider economic policy uncertainty as a possible source of commonality in liquidity in the context of an emerging market.

In the aftermath of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, there were heightened concerns among the market participants and policymakers on the potential adverse effects of economic policies on stock market liquidity. This paper examines the causality and co-movement between economic policy uncertainties and stock market liquidity using monthly data from G7 countries. Our empirical analysis considers wavelet coherence and wavelet phase angle tests. Linear and nonlinear causality test results suggest that a causal relationship exists between economic policy uncertainty and stock market liquidity. Moreover, stock market illiquidity varies with the uncertainty but in the same direction while liquidity co-moves in the opposite direction. In times of economic turmoil or crises, the relationship between policy uncertainty and illiquidity becomes stronger, and illiquidity leads economic policy uncertainty. Overall, our findings indicate that the leading indicator property of (il)liquidity is useful for providing economic information and thereby to manage market conditions and investor expectations.

Using a sample of listed Indian manufacturing companies, this study examines the role of chief executive officer's (CEO's) personal characteristics like age, tenure, education, and career experience in the determination of investment decisions of the firm. The dynamic panel data model estimation, more specifically the system generalized method of moments estimation results reveal a negative relation between CEO's age and corporate investment. CEO's financial education is positively associated with investment decisions. The investment cash flow sensitivity analysis posits that CEO's age and financial education reduce the sensitivity of investment with respect to cash flow. The results are robust across different periods, defined on the basis of crises. In times of financial crisis, we document that firm's liquidity and age, CEO's career experience and tenure turn out to be significant determinants of corporate investment. This paper provides an out-of-sample evidence of the role of CEO's personal characteristics on the determination of corporate investment, which is an unexplored issue from an emerging market perspective.