Fear of the COVID-19 pandemic and IPO aftermarket liquidity in ASEAN-5

Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between the fear index and initial public offering (IPO) aftermarket liquidity in ASEAN during the bearish time, the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses random effect panel regression analysis using two proxies of IPO aftermarket liquidity, namely, volume and turnover, on data of 90 IPO companies in the ASEAN-5 countries over four study periods: 30, 60, 90 and 100 days, after their IPOs. Findings: The results indicate that the COVID-19 fear index significantly affects liquidity for all periods. The fear index decreases the stock aftermarket liquidity of ASEAN-5 IPO companies. The findings are consistent with additional tests. Originality/value: This study initiates research during the COVID-19 pandemic in ASEAN-5 countries. Furthermore, while the other studies examine the stock performance of existing listed companies, this study focuses exclusively on the liquidity of companies that went public through IPOs in 2020. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Profit, cash flow, and leverage: the case of ASEAN stock market performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in the first quarter of 2020 has caused a severe decline in stock markets worldwide. While prior studies in developed markets found that workplace closure can negatively impact the capital market (e.g. Ozili and Arun, 2020), lesser is known about how it impacts emerging capital markets, which may have different characteristics and behaviour (Harjoto et al., 2021). Hence, this study seeks to uncover stock performance around workplace closure dates of firms incorporated in ASEAN countries and investigates the role of accounting fundamentals in mitigating workplace closure policy's effects on stock performances. Design/methodology/approach: Using an event study methodology, the authors measure the cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) around workplace closure dates. The authors then use cross-sectional analysis to analyse whether the accounting fundamentals, specifically profitability, cash flow, and leverage, are associated with the CAR. This cross-sectional study involves 1,720 firms that are incorporated in the ASEAN countries. Findings: This analysis indicates that, on average, ASEAN capital markets react negatively to workplace closure policies. The authors then find that the CARs around workplace closure dates are positively associated with the current ratios and are negatively associated with long-term debt ratios. This study’s results thus indicate that firms with a higher liquidity and a higher solvency experience a less adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic than other firms. The authors also find that the associations are more robust for (1) firms in industries more affected by COVID-19 and (2) firms located in countries with more severe cases. Additionally, contrary to this study’s expectation, the authors do not find meaningful associations between CARs around workplace closure dates and firms' cash flow from operation and profit respectively. This study’s results suggest that investors view prior performances related to firms' ability to generate operating cash flow and profit as less relevant to measure firm performance around the workplace closure event. Research limitations/implications: This study’s results contribute to studies examining fundamental accounting roles during the COVID-19 era, specifically in emerging economies. The findings are critical for investors in understanding the company fundamentals associated with stock price performance in emerging markets during the recent health-related crisis. Originality/value: Most studies analysing cross-sectional differences in stock returns during the COVID-19 era focus on industry-level differences and use observations from developed markets (Sinagl, 2020;Ramelli and Wagner, 2020). Studies using firm-level analysis in emerging markets are still limited. The authors expand prior studies by using firm-level analysis that spans six countries in ASEAN. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Determining the factors influencing residential property price: A comparative study between Indonesia and Malaysia

The property is a unique product that cannot be contrasted with other commercial products due to pricing conditions. Property price determination is one of the crucial aspects of property development activities because of the profit margin made by the developer and the purchasing preferences. This study attempts to extend the literature that has largely focused on factors of housing prices in developed markets and provided recent evidence of housing price determinants in two countries (i.e., Indonesia and Malaysia). Thus, this study examines the factors affecting housing prices in Jakarta Metropolitan Region and Greater Kuala Lumpur. A quantitative approach was used involving two countries, namely Indonesia and Malaysia. The data was collected using a survey questionnaire through purposive sampling. A total of 100 respondents (Indonesia) and 134 respondents (Malaysia) participated in this study. The data was analyzed using descriptive (frequency) and inferential statistics (chi-square test and multinomial regression). The results indicated that housing location, property funding, and health have a significant effect on residential property prices in Indonesia. Besides that, the results displayed that housing physical design, home design and construction, developer and real estate products, development concepts, housing location, property funding, social status, health, law provisions, and external factors do not affect residential property price in Malaysia. Despite being neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia have distinct economic and landscape characteristics. Furthermore, considering Indonesia has a higher number of Covid-19 cases than Malaysia, significant information on how the pandemic has affected the demand, cost, and pricing of residential housing in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur will be provided. The findings of this study will provide recommendations to investors, buyers, and policy about the residential housing industry's prospects for growth in emerging nations following the pandemic. © 2022 by the authors;licensee Growing Science, Canada.

Stringency Index and Stock Market Return Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Emerging Stock Market Countries

COVID-19 has been rapidly spread worldwide since March 2020 and has caused uncertainty in many sectors, including stock market. Aligned with the previous studies, Government responses toward the crisis are matter in offsetting the effects of the pandemic. Henceforth, we examine the relationship of Stock market return with lockdown policies amidst the pandemic. In specific, this study analyses COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index, as the primary drivers of stock market movements, and add other country-level indicators are as a control variable. We focus on emerging stock market countries since it has been a number one alternative for global investors diversified their portfolios. Moreover, there is still lack of extend research on how Government’s role affects the stock market return in selected countries during the 1-year of COVID-19 pandemic. In total, there are 26 emerging stock markets’ monthly return within a period from March 2020 to February 2021, employed in this research. It is believed that the Index has a negative significant relationship with the stock markets’ return. © IEOM Society International.