Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Economic Sentiment: A Cross-Country Study

This paper empirically analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic sentiment by constructing an econometric model using monthly data from 36 countries from December 2019 to October 2020. The results of this study show: (1) After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic sentiment fluctuated greatly, and even turned pessimistic. (2) It has a significant negative impact on economic sentiment. (3) It, however, has a substantial positive impact on consumer confidence, a major negative impact on industrial confidence, and no significant impact on services confidence.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on global economic sentiment, particularly affecting industrial confidence, but it has also significantly boosted consumer confidence.