Introduction

This chapter is contextual in nature. It provides an overview of the impact of COVID-19, highlighting both the significant number of deaths caused by the pandemic as well as the economic disruption that occurred. Particular attention is paid to the role of digital technologies during the pandemic, which enabled a wide range of activities (e.g. work, education and shopping) to go online. The disruptive impact of COVID-19 is widespread and far-reaching, with the pandemic acting as a 'change agent' expanding and encouraging the greater use of digital technologies. The second half of the chapter presents summaries of the other chapters in the book. In doing so, it illustrates the scope and scale of the impact of COVID-19, the multitude of different challenges it has caused, and how these varied across different regions and contexts, as well as the diversity of reactions to the pandemic. Some of these reactions are technical in nature, while others are commercial and political. The summaries also draw attention to ongoing policy debates, the significance of which has been heightened by the pandemic. © 2023 the authors.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry in Quebec. An analysis focused on outdoor organizations

This study was conducted with the aim of empirically analyzing the impacts of the pandemic of the Covid-19 on the Quebec tourism industry, with a particular focus on the outdoor sector, given that the latter seems to have been a form of escape in several countries and for many citizens. Based on a quantitative approach and a self-administered survey in the summer of 2020 (n = 1210), this study made it possible to analyze the organizational situation of this industry, the tourism performance of the organizations surveyed, their human resources concerns, their short- and medium-term development prospects, as well as the structural and organizational elements where the organizations are the most vulnerable. Overall, it can be seen that the outdoor sector, thanks to its 40 intrinsic characteristics, stands out very positively in this industry, in particular in contrast to organizations located in large urban centers that depend on clients from outside Quebec.

Consumers' fear regarding food security in Slovenia during the first wave of COVID-19 crisis

The various crises are having a significant impact on the entire food sector and are changing the attitudes of Europeans as well as policies on the importance of food security and sustainably produced quality and safe food for consumer health. The paper focuses on the consumer's fear of food security for the time of the first wave of COVID-19 and the associated concern for food security in the future and the changes in consumer behaviour. The online survey in Slovenia was conducted in June 2020 using a "snowball" method. The sample included 490 individuals. The results showed that both measured forms of fear (i) fear over food security during the first wave of COVID-19 crisis, and (ii) fear over food security in the future were statistically significant, moderately strong and positively associated with almost all forms of self-perceived behaviour change caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The respondents focused more on buying locally produced and processed food, food stockpiling and decreasing food waste. Only minor changes were expressed with regards to their food purchasing channels, with the elderly, the highly educated and those who classified themselves in a higher social class buying more often directly from farmers. In the future, the results of this research should be compared with other countries and the impact of an individual's economic situation and the impact of promotional campaigns on agricultural products on changing consumer behaviour should also be analysed in more detail.

An organizational analysis of how managers must understand the mental health impact of teleworking during COVID-19 on employees

PurposeThe unimagined workplace disturbance caused by the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has made many organizations virtual or telework driven workplaces, often without the infrastructure and systems in place to support employees facing these sudden workplace changes (Burrell, 2020). Many stressors accompanied this transition, to include lack of childcare, home-school responsibilities and layoffs and business closings. These stressors have perpetuated concerns for the job and financial security for all workers (Fox, 2020), leading some employees to struggle with the work-life balance out of concern for being laid off due to perceived low productivity (Fox, 2020). This study aims to explore those manifestations.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19 induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment to fill a gap in the literature concerning emerging workplace dynamics due to COVID-19 for small real estate businesses in the USA.FindingsThe results of this qualitative research case study provide knowledge and information about the need for small businesses to be resourceful and resilient in the way that they support and engage remote workers. This qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19-induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment for small real estate businesses. The analysis of current work-life structures through a qualitative lens provides trends among workers to gain a greater perspective of the current accelerators and barriers to worker success in a COVID-19 teleworking environment.Originality/valueThis qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19 induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment to fill a gap in the literature concerning emerging workplace dynamics due to COVID-19 for small real estate businesses. The value of this research is that majority of the participants were African-Americans, which represents a participant group that is highly under researched.

Economic policy uncertainty and international tourist arrivals: a disaggregated analysis of the Croatian Adriatic coast

This is the first study to examine the differential impact of Croatian and European economic policy uncertainty indices while controlling for the real effective exchange rate and industrial production on international tourist arrivals for the seven coastal counties of Croatia and the country as a whole. The Toda-Yamamoto long-run causality modeling approach with a Fourier approximation is employed to capture structural shifts. This approach is particularly useful in light of the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism sector. The results show unidirectional causality from both Croatian and European economic policy uncertainty indices to international tourist arrivals with the impact of the economic policy uncertainty indices negative and statistically significant across the respective coastal counties. Moreover, the findings show that European economic policy uncertainty exhibits a greater adverse impact on international tourist arrivals relative to Croatian economic policy uncertainty.

Traffic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Statewide Analysis of Social Separation and Activity Restriction

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant social and economic impacts throughout the world. In addition to the health consequences, the impacts on travel behavior have also been sudden and wide ranging. This study describes the drastic changes in human behavior using the analysis of highway volume data as a representation of personal activity and interaction. Same-day traffic volumes for 2019 and 2020 across Florida were analyzed to identify spatial and temporal changes in behavior resulting from the disease or fear of it and statewide directives to limit person-to-person interaction. Compared to similar days in 2019, overall statewide traffic volume dropped by 47.5%. Although decreases were evident across the state, there were also differences between rural and urban areas and between highways and arterials both in terms of the timing and extent. The data and analyses help to demonstrate the early impacts of the pandemic and may be useful for operational and strategic planning of recovery efforts and for dealing with future pandemics.

COVID-19 impacts on United States crawfish. (Special Issue: COVID-19 impacts on selected commodities.)

This research determines the impacts of COVID-19 US on crawfish production and consumption for 2020 and 2021 using an Equilibrium Displacement Model. In the US, crawfish is one of the seafood commodities where most production is consumed by domestic consumers (7% of domestic consumption is from imports). Crawfish and rice are complementary. Therefore, the impacts of COVID-19 on crawfish consumption simultaneously influence rice production and crawfish producers and consumers. In the first year of COVID-19 (2020), the reduction in crawfish retail demand caused negative effects on final consumers and producers. However, crawfish consumption recovered significantly in the second year (2021), which could compensate for the loss in 2020. Overall, consumer and producer gains ranged from $549 to $626 million if the COVID-19 pandemic only impacted retail consumption. However, in 2021, the increase in production costs due to higher oil/diesel prices and other input prices caused the farm supply to decrease. As a result, total welfare gains ranged from $200 to $228 million. If the demand in 2021 did not increase, but the crawfish farm supply decreased, consumer and producer losses ranged from $929 to $1045 million. Overall, the total effects of COVID-19 on consumers and producers for 2020 and 2021 depend on its effects in 2021. If the demand in 2021 increased following the decrease in farm supply, consumers and producers would benefit from the shocks of COVID-19 due to higher post-COVID-19 demand.

Is irrigation fit for purpose? A review of the relationships between scheme size and performance of irrigation systems

Irrigation is increasingly being called upon to help stabilize and grow food and water security in the face of multiple crises;these crises include climate change, but also recent global food and energy price crises, including the 2007/08 food and energy price crises, and the more recent crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war on Ukraine. While irrigation development used to focus on public, large-scale, surface- and reservoir-fed systems, over the last several decades, private small-scale investments in groundwater irrigation have grown in importance and are expected to see rapid future growth, particularly in connection with solar-powered pumping systems. But is irrigation 'fit-for-purpose' to support population growth, economic development, and multiple food, energy and climate crises? This paper reviews how fit-for-purpose irrigation is with a focus on economies of scale of surface and groundwater systems, and a particular examination of systems in Sub-Saharan Africa where the need for expansion is largest. The review finds challenges for both larger surface and smaller groundwater systems in the face of growing demand for irrigated agriculture and dwindling and less reliable water supplies. To support resilience of the sector, we propose both a holistic design and management improvement agenda for larger surface systems, and a series of suggestions to improve sustainability concerns of groundwater systems.

How the Japanese workcation embraces digital nomadic work style employees. (Special Issue: Leisure, knowledge work and the digital nomadism.)

In Japan, workcations have gained attention as a way to offset the economic damage caused to inbound tourism by the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering its aims to contribute to the local community and increase interactions with local residents, the Japanese-style workcation can be positioned as a form of digital nomadism that seeks alternatives to existing work styles. This study is based on fieldwork in Tottori Prefecture in Japan and includes interviews and participant observation. It aims to examine (1) national and local government workcation policies, (2) the development of new services and businesses that facilitate workcation, and (3) the process of introducing hybrid work in companies. Japanese-style workcation as a social design can offer solutions to problems such as the concentration of population in cities, ageing population, and declining tourism industry. The work styles and lifestyles suggested by the Japanese-style workcation should continue to be explored as an area where new tourism, social design, and community design overlap. At the same time, incorporating digital nomadism as individualism into the workcation remains a future issue.

The impact of price insulation on world wheat markets during COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis

This paper begins with a survey of recent commodity price developments that highlights the magnitude of this price surge and identifies the rapid rise in wheat prices as a key element. The analysis in this paper focuses on the extent to which domestic markets are insulated from these changes and on the resulting impacts on world prices. An econometric analysis using Error Correction Models finds stable long-term relationships between world wheat prices and most domestic prices of wheat and wheat products, but with considerable variation across countries in the rate of price transmission. A case study of the price shocks during the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine food price crisis finds that price insulation roughly doubled the overall increase in world wheat prices and raised their volatility both during periods of price increase and price decline.

Earnings management and issue characteristics: an empirical analysis of IPOs in India

PurposeThis study aims to examine earnings management around initial public offerings (IPOs) in India. It also explores the influence of issue characteristics on earnings management around the IPOs.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 511 IPOs that came during April 2003-March 2019 is studied for calculating earnings management for pre-issue, issue and post-issue years. Using Cross-Sectional Modified Jones Model, the paper presents earnings management on the basis of three proxies i.e. discretionary accruals, discretionary current accruals and discretionary long-term accruals. The influence of issue characteristics on earnings management practised around the IPOs is also observed through correlation and multiple regression analysis.FindingsThe paper finds that earnings management is abnormally high during the issue year compared with pre-issue and post-issue years. It also unveils that profitability, premium, age, and size of the issuer significantly determine the level of pre-issue and issue year earnings management practised by Indian IPO issuers.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are useful to stakeholders (potential investors, analysts and regulators) to observe, assess and understand the quality of financial numbers that are based on fallacious disclosure of accounting figures. It provides insight into the possibilities of managed earnings around the issue that could influence investors' decision-making. Further, the study reflects the efficacy of Indian regulatory norms for IPOs.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, it is the only Indian study that had used an extensive data set of about two decades to calculate earnings management during pre-issue, issue and post-issue years. The uniqueness of the study further lies in three proxies of earnings management representing short-term and long-term accruals. Moreover, it is the first study to observe the influence of IPO issue characteristics on earnings management.

COVID-19, climate shocks, and food security linkages: evidence and perceptions from smallholder farming communities in Tanzania

Insights on the indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are critical for designing and implementing policies to alleviate the food security burden it may have caused, and for bolstering rural communities against similar macroeconomic shocks in the future. Yet estimating the causal effects of the pandemic is difficult due to its ubiquitous nature and entanglement with other shocks. In this descriptive study, we combine high-resolution satellite imagery to control for plot-level rainfall with household socio-economic panel data from 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020, to differentiate the effect of the pandemic from climatic shocks on food security in Morogoro, Tanzania. We find evidence of decreased incomes, increased prices of staple foods, and increased food insecurity in 2020 relative to previous years, and link these changes to the pandemic by asking households about their perceptions of COVID-19. Respondents overwhelmingly attribute economic hardships to the pandemic, with perceived impacts differing by asset level.

International tourism and poverty alleviation: cross-country evidence using panel quantile fixed effects approach

This paper evaluates the impact of tourism on poverty alleviation using a new panel quantile fixed effects method that allows regressors to affect the entire conditional distribution of the dependent variable providing substantial information gains. Our results show statistically significant negative marginal effects of tourism on both absolute poverty measures and Gini income inequality across all quantiles, including the poorest 10%. We also find evidence that international tourism can mitigate the slow improvement in domestic income level for poverty reduction. From a policy perspective, our findings can provide insights into developing targeted tourism policies and strategies to achieve better solutions on poverty alleviation. We also call for special attention to policymakers in developing countries to continue working on tourism product differentiation and targeting a smaller but reachable market in the post COVID-19 recovery era, to prevent the adverse effect of the worldwide income growth stagnation on their poverty rates.

Reaction of the cereal market to the disruption of trade flows in Romania

The paper presents the reaction of the Romanian cereal market to the disruption of trade flows caused by certain shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which lead to changes with high impact on the functioning of this market, representing an important test for the resilience of the sector. Due to trade liberalization in global markets, including agri-food markets, the competitiveness of exports has become increasingly important, contributing to the creation of the country's competitive advantage. Any restrictions to trade in agri-food products can distort trade flows, and this disruption will have an impact on supply and prices. Maintaining a balance between imports and exports is essential to ensure domestic market stability. International trade in agri-food products plays an important role in global food security. The results show that Romania mainly exports unprocessed agricultural products, with cereals having the largest share in the export structure, cereal supply is dependent on climate change, yet it is one of the products with the lowest volatility. The cereal market shows a more elastic reaction to price responses, even though demand for staple foods is generally inelastic.

The economic implications of the COVID-19 outbreak on tourism industry: empirical evidence from Turkey

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused tremendous fear and uncertainty and affected health, economy, and social life in an unprecedented form worldwide. Yet, the level of knowledge on its economic implications is very limited. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to explain the health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19. Because the tourism is one of the most affected industries by the pandemic, this study aims to explain the effects of COVID-19 cases and deaths, global fear, and government responses on Turkey's tourism industry. Empirical findings show that the tourism industry reacts negatively to new cases, number of deaths, and global fear measures. Also, government containment and health measures and economic supports positively affect the tourism industry. Furthermore, government stringency policies drive down the tourism industry's performance. The findings of this study provide significant implications for tourism and travel firms, policy makers, and future research.

The role of social transfers in mitigating families with children from the economic impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic

In this study, we investigated the household income of families with children. Our specific interest was the earned income losses during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and how social transfers have mitigated those losses. We assessed the monthly income levels by comparing the information on the year prior to pandemic to income levels during COVID‐19 pandemic. We found that the pandemic affected all studied subgroups of families with children, with the most negative economic influence in May 2020. In addition, our results indicate that in Finland the social transfers protected fairly well against the negative economic impacts of the pandemic among families with children, especially among vulnerable families (those with lowest income level prior COVID‐19, with low parental education, single‐parent families and families with non‐Finnish‐born parents). The information gained from this analysis can be useful in economic recovery during and after COVID‐19 pandemic, and when preparing for future challenges. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Social Welfare is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak in Vietnam socio-ecnomic impact and recommendations

As of April 30, Vietnam has a total of 270 confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and no death, numbers that are significantly low compared to other neighboring countries. Besides, with no new cases reported in the past few days, and 222 cases have recovered. So far, Vietnam, which borders with China, where the COVID-19 originated, has done an excellent job in fighting the outbreak with limited resources compared to wealthy Western countries. In order to prevent further spread, Vietnamese authorities have enforced social distancing, many restaurants and businesses have shuttered, tourists have left, and many residents are out of work. As a result, the Vietnam economy and residents have been primarily affected. In this paper, the author will review how the Vietnamese Government combat the COVID-19 pandemic successfully, manage socio-economic impact as well as support poor people and workers. Lastly, the author will provide recommendations to Vietnam's Government to reduce the impact of coronavirus in tourist field. © 2023 Author(s).

Resilience of U.S. cattle and beef sectors: lessons from COVID-19. (Special Issue: COVID-19 impacts on selected commodities.)

The upheaval wrought on the U.S. beef industry by the global COVID-19 pandemic carried with it several lessons that might help improve resiliency should there be a reoccurrence. First, the futures market for fed cattle fell well before cash prices, which sent a signal to market cattle early, and those who did so benefited. Second, the decline in futures anticipated the closure of slaughter plants and provided an opportunity to purchase and store beef primals in anticipation of future scarcity. Third, the beef industry has ways of slowing or stopping the pipeline of animals destined for feed yards and can "store" these animals in background feeding facilities or on pasture or rangeland. Producers who waited to sell feeder cattle benefited from higher feeder cattle prices once the processing facilities reopened. Fourth, cow slaughter plants responded to the pandemic and subsequent scarcity of labor much better than large fed-cattle plants. Cow plants are not as sophisticated and complex as fed-cattle plants. This relative simplicity may help explain the superior performance of these plants during the crisis. Sixth, the academic work on the value of building smaller plants as a response against concentration provides mixed results-these plants require more labor per animal and can be even more susceptible to labor scarcity. Seventh, the observed increase in boxed beef prices, even as fed cattle prices fell, demonstrates the risk-mitigating impact of producer ownership of downstream activities in the value chain.

Pandemia de la COVID-19 y las Políticas de Salud Pública en el Perú: marzo-mayo 2020/COVID-19 pandemic and Public Health Policies in Peru: March-May 2020

Objetivo El trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar la dinámica del comportamiento de la COVID-19 en el Perú, estimar y evaluar el impacto de la política pública de supresión (cuarentena). Métodos El modelo epidemiológico SIR y la estimación con el método de Mínimos Cuadrados Ordinarios (MCO). Resultados Se encontró que el número básico de propagación (Ro) cayó de 6,0 a 3,2 habiéndose reducido en 54% por efecto de la estrategia de supresión, y dos meses después cayó a 1,7. Sin embargo, sigue siendo alto y evidencia que aún continúa en expansión el nivel de infectados, con los efectos sociales y económicos adversos que esta medida implica. Conclusión La COVID-19 es una enfermedad que crece exponencialmente, por lo cual, la política de salud basada en la estrategia de supresión ha permitido aplanar la curva de contagio, evitando el colapso del Sistema de Salud. Objective The objective of the study is to analyze the behavior dynamics of COVID-19 in Peru, estimate and evaluate the impact of the suppression public policy (quarantine). Methods The SIR epidemiological model and the estimation with the ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method. Results It was found that the basic number of propagation (Ro) fell from 6,0 to 3,2 having been reduced by 54% due to the suppression strategy;and two months later it falls to 1,7. However, it remains high and evidence that the level of those infected continues to expand with its adverse social and economic effects. Conclusion COVID-19 is a disease that grows exponentially, and that the health policy based on the suppression strategy has allowed to flatten the contagion curve, thus avoiding the collapse of the Health System.

Perspectives of agricultural cooperatives re-development after COVID 19 pandemic in Slovakia

The Covid 19 pandemic is a global, not only, health crisis with devasting impact on the world economy in general. These impacts are also visible more and more in food and agriculture sector as the main sector of population nourishment. In spite of adopted measures in many countries, spread of the virus is starting to distrupt the supply of agrofood products to markets and consumers, both within and across borders. Most major economies are expected to enter recession as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, and the OECD has estimated that for each month the necessary containment measures continue the drop in output is equivalent to a decline in annual GDP growth up to 2 percentage points. How damaging these impacts tourn out to be for individual agricultural production of countries and agricultural cooperatives which are consider as the more viable during crisis is the objective of this paper.