Browsing by Subject "COVID-19 pandemic"

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    Analysis of the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Hotel Sector Spanish: An Efficiency Study by Regions
    (MDPI, 2025-03-18) Giménez Espín, Juan Antonio; Alberca Oliver, María Pilar; Santos Jaén, José Manuel; Economía Financiera y Contabilidad
    In this paper, the non-parametric frontier methodology (DEA) with input orientation, variable returns to scale, and the Malmquist productivity indices are used to study the level of national and regional efficiency and know the productive change of Spanish hotels in the period 2014–2021, after the health crisis caused by COVID-19. The main objective of this paper is to know if the national and regional efficiency and total productivity of this sector have changed due to this pandemic. The data were extracted from the Iberian Balance Sheet Analysis System (SABI) and the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). The results obtained make it possible to determine which regions are the most efficient (Asturias, Castilla-León, and Cantabria) and to know that changes in productivity have their origin in efficiency. Furthermore, in 2021, after eliminating the restrictions imposed to fight COVID-19, investments made by hotel companies led to great technical progress. Thus, contrary to what one might think, the pandemic did positively affect the productivity of these companies, thanks to great technical progress and better adjustment of their scale. Besides, it is possible that COVID-19 has shifted tourism from regions with large cities to those with more natural areas, so the most efficient regions are those where natural tourism stands out.
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    Epidemiological analysis of suicidal behaviour in Spain from 2017 to 2022 and comparative perspectives with Japan: a retrospective observational study
    (MDPI, 2025-02-20) Martínez-Rives, Noelia L. ; Babu, Hellen W. ; Kotera, Yasuhiro ; Martín Chaparro, María del Pilar; Colman, Rory D. ; Gilmour, Stuart ; Psiquiatría y Psicología Social; Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia
    Background: Suicide is a significant public health issue globally. The patterns and disparities in suicide rates may have changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using epidemiological comparative studies, we can identify how suicide incidence is influenced by risk factors such as personal pressures and social support. This study analyses Spanish suicide data during the period from 2017 to 2022 and compares them with previously analysed data from Japan, with the aim of exploring the variability in suicide distribution in both countries. Methods: We used a retrospective observational design with national-level suicide data from Spain to estimate trends in suicide mortality over this period and compared these data with previously analysed data from Japan. Results: In Spain, no significant changes in suicide rates were found before and after the pandemic period, but notable monthly variations occurred at the pandemic’s onset in the youngest age group, highlighting the increase use of poisoning among women until 2020. In Japan, a notable variation was found following the pandemic. Specifically, older age groups and younger women were at higher suicide risk, while the suicide risk transitioned from younger to older ages between 2020 and 2021 among men. These changes are likely attributed to exacerbated socio-economic factors. A similar trend was observed in both countries based on sex with a different influence noted for women. Conclusions: This study offers detailed insight into the patterns and circumstances of suicide in these countries, offering a basis for future interventions and preventive measures. These comparisons emphasize the critical nature of suicide and underline the necessity for enhanced prevention efforts.
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    Government bonds and COVID-19. An international evaluation under different market states
    (SAGE Publications, 2023) Jareño, Francisco; Martínez Serna, María Isabel; Chicharro, María; Organización de Empresas y Finanzas; Facultades, Departamentos, Servicios y Escuelas::Departamentos de la UMU::Organización de Empresas y Finanzas
    This study evaluates the sensitivity of government bond yields from the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to variations in some international risk factors during the period between January 2020 and April 2021. This sample period allows us to focus the study on the first, and the subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we propose an extended risk factor model estimated using the quantile regression approach. In addition, this study compares the COVID-19 pandemic period with a pre-pandemic and a post-vaccination period. Interesting differences among them are observed, remarking that gold is the key risk factor during the pandemic, whereas VIX and crude oil play that role in the pre-pandemic and the post-vaccination periods, respectively, mainly for bearish states. As expected, the explanatory power of the model is better at extreme quantiles, showing relevant differences between sensitivities, because the found effects are quantile-, country- and risk factor-dependent. The results during the pandemic are robust to the inclusion of a country-specific factor and a factor accounting for the mutual influence of the government bonds.
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    Impact of public guarantees on optimal debt levels following the COVID-19 pandemic: efficiency in their allocation
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2023-02-17) Baixauli Soler, J. Samuel; Lozano Reina, Gabriel; Álvarez Díez, Susana; Rodríguez Linarey Rey, Diego; Organización de Empresas y Finanzas; Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa; Facultades, Departamentos, Servicios y Escuelas::Departamentos de la UMU::Organización de Empresas y Finanzas; Facultades, Departamentos, Servicios y Escuelas::Departamentos de la UMU::Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa
    The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a sudden drop in companies’ sales and turnover, which resulted in serious liquidity and solvency problems. In an effort to cushion these unfavourable effects, a credit guarantee plan was launched in 2020 by the Spanish Government to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 by injecting firms with liquidity. This paper seeks to analyse the impact of this public policy on SMEs’ optimal debt levels and to examine whether the allocation of this public funding has been efficiently targeted at those SMEs suffering temporary distress as a result of the pandemic. Based on a sample of 3,305 Spanish SMEs, our results show that the government’s interventionist policy swelled excess debt levels – mainly due to the increase in excess long-term debt – and deviated them from the optimum. Moreover, although these public guarantees should mostly have been aimed at SMEs experiencing a temporary decline due to COVID-19, we find that these SMEs were the least likely to receive liquidity injections.
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    Perception of body image, food consumption, sedentary behavior and physical activity in a Brazilian academic population during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic
    (Universidad de Murcia. Servicio de publicaciones, 2022) Paludo, Ana C; Duarte, Cícera; Silva, Michael Pereira; Serassuelo Junior, Helio; Cavazzotto, Timothy
    The study evaluates the perception of body image associated with food consumption, sedentary behavior, and practice of physical activity responses during the COVID-19 lockdown in the academic population ofa Brazilian University. Four hundred fifteenstudentsanswered an online survey during 1-31 May/2020. Frequencieswere used to describe the outcomes, and the Chi-square test (p< 0.05)to determine associations. A negativeperception of change in body image was found in both females and males (e.g., 73% and 55%, respectively), significantly associated with a perception of an increase in food consumption, watching TV and social media (more than 2 hours), not practicing physical activity in females, and with an increase in food consumption in males. The results presented a generalpicture of behavioral responses during the COVID-19 pandemicofstudents in Brazil, suggesting that a negative perception of body image changinghas been associated with health-related behaviors, especially in females.