COVID-19 and Public Health Spending; Effects on the Economic Sustainability of the Spanish Private Healthcare System.

This research analyzes the influence of COVID-19 and public health spending policies on the economic sustainability of Spanish private hospitals. Moreover, it explores the relationship between public health spending policies and the spread of COVID-19 in Spain. Private health care is an understudied sector, yet it is fundamental to the health of citizens. Moreover, the economic causes linked to the spread of the pandemic have not yet been clearly established. Therefore, this work covers a gap in the literature. Private hospital profitability was analyzed by applying ordinary least squares and panel data regressions on financial and macroeconomic data for the period 2017-2020. The spread of COVID-19 was examined by means of cluster and component analysis. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the economic sustainability of Spanish private hospitals, which was also influenced by public health spending. In turn, the spread of the pandemic was mainly related to population density, but was also influenced by public health spending and the gross domestic product of the region. Therefore, policymakers must consider that it is essential to make adequate investments in the healthcare system to cope with pandemics such as COVID-19. In addition, managers can see how corporate social responsibility is a valuable strategy for maintaining hospital profitability.

Women in monitoring positions and market risk. Are the stocks of companies with gender diverse boards less volatile?

Gender equality is included in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and in the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization. Many countries, especially in Europe, are incorporating legal quotas into their legislation to oblige companies to increase the presence of women in the highest positions of responsibility. This measure has been controversial and widely debated, and so it is of great interest to analyze the economic effects that the incorporation of women brings. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the percentage of women on the board of directors and systematic market risk, measured using the beta of stocks in the S&P 500 and Euro Stoxx 300 indexes from 2015 to 2019. Applying OLS regressions with instrumental variables, fixed effects panel data, and a GMM estimation, the results show a negative and significant relationship for the U.S. market. However, this relationship was not confirmed for the European market.