This study investigates the determinants of profitability for industrial firms in Oman. Therefore, a sample of 17 industrial companies listed on Muscat securities market covering the period from 2006 till 2013 is utilized. Results from the panel ordinary least squares model reveal a positive and statistical significant relationship between profitability, the firm size, growth, fixed assets and working capital. On the other hand, the average tax rate and the financial leverage variables show a negative relationship with profitability. However, this relationship is significant only for the financial leverage variable. The study concludes that large growing firms with efficiently managed assets improve revenue and ultimately enhance profitability.

This paper aims to study the perceptions of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on behaviors related to diet and food shopping on a sample of 356 adults in Oman. The study is based on the results of an Arabic-language online survey conducted between September 15 and October 10, 2020, using the Survey Monkey platform. The questionnaire had 25 questions (multiple options and one option), subdivided into three parts. Respondents were asked to disseminate the survey to their networks as part of the study's snowball sampling method. Descriptive statistics and various statistical tests (e.g., U-Mann Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, chi-square) have been used to evaluate the study results. The study showed a significant shift in the attitude and behavior of respondents regarding food and health. Indeed, the paper findings indicated (i) a shift to healthier diets, as shown by the fact that 45.5% of the participants increased their intake of fruits and vegetables, 42.4% ate more healthy foods, and 53.1% reduced their intake of unhealthy foods; (ii) an increase in the consumption of local products, owing to food safety concerns, with 25.8% of the cohort stating that they purchase more local food items; (iii) a shift in grocery shopping behaviors, especially with 28.1% of the participants buying more groceries online; (iv) the absence of panic buying in Oman, since 62.36% of the participants said they did not stockpile food items; and (v) a reduction of food waste. Indeed, 78.9% of the participants specified they were not wasting more food than average since the beginning of the pandemic, and 74.72% indicated they were more aware of how much food they were wasting. Surprisingly, COVID-19 appears to bring many beneficial adjustments in Oman to make food consumption more sustainable and healthier.

The paper aims to evaluate the reaction of stock markets in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses ARCH and GARCH models that use daily stock prices from January 1, 2020, to September 2, 2020. The financial market response was analyzed in two phases. The first phase analyses the financial markets' response within 30 to 60 days from the first day of confirmed cases of COVID-19. The second phase analyses the financial market response post 30 to 60 days of initial confirmed cases. The study results conclude that the share prices decreased, but in the second phase, the markets responded positively. Our results conclude that governmental support played an important role in mitigating the repercussions of the COVID-19 outbreak on stock markets in BRICS countries.JEL Classification: E44, G15, G10How to Cite:Chavali, K., Al Samman, H., & Jamil, S. A. (2021). How Did The Financial Markets Respond to The Covid-19 Pandemic? Empirical Evidence from BRICS Countries. Etikonomi, 20(2), xx– xx. https://doi.org/10.15408/etk.v20i2.20339.

This study analyzes the relationship between trading volume and stock return volatility for industrial firms listed on Muscat securities market. Several tests were utilized to include: Brailsford model, vector autoregressive model (VAR), and the pairwise Granger causality test. The empirical results provide evidence of a significant positive effect for return volatility on trading volume. Likewise, the VAR model provides evidence of a significant positive effect of trading volume on stock returns. On the other hand, the pairwise Granger causality test reveals that trading volume Granger-cause stock return. The previous findings are inconsistent with the weak-form of the efficient market hypothesis.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate and provide an objective appraisal of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Islamic and conventional financial institutions and Islamic windows in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Design/methodology/approach The panel data techniques are conducted country-wise in each financial institution type: random-effect model, fixed-effect model and Hausman test. Findings The results of the first phase analysis that extends from 1 January 2020 to 30 October 2020 show that Islamic financial institutions are less exposed to the repercussions of the COVID-19 outbreak than the conventional and Islamic window financial institutions in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Moreover, the Islamic financial institutions in Saudi Arabia and Oman have not been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The second phase analysis for the COVID-19 outbreak that extends from 1 November 2020 to 17 March 2021 confirms the disappearance of the negative impact of COVID-19 on Islamic financial institutions in Bahrain and Oman. Practical implications The findings present that Islamic banks are not as resilient in the COVID-19 pandemic as in the 2008 financial crisis. It can be suggested that regulatory authorities, financial institutions and other key policymakers in the GCC countries should focus on implementing regulatory reforms related to human capital, innovative products, research and development to further develop individuals, societies and institutions within the framework of Islamic ontology to be more resilient in such crises. Originality/value This paper provides a different perspective from existing literature on the pandemics and financial institutions by comparing the stock prices in Islamic and conventional financial institutions and Islamic windows in GCC countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this paper should be considered as a contribution to filling a gap in the literature.