Publications

CEO Gender and Firm Performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, with C. I. Giannikos and J. Lou – Applied Finance Letters, 2024

The COVID 19 pandemic precipitated an unprecedented deceleration of economic activities and a stock market crash. The unparalleled shock and the altered risk attitudes present a distinctive opportunity to examine whether the well-established concept of the “glass ceiling” is indicative of latent gender differentials in company performance. Utilising US financial data, the study employs a range of methodologies to examine whether firms led by female CEOs exhibited the same performance as firms led by male CEOs during 2020-2021. Our empirical results confirm previous findings from the finance literature, as we neither find a systematic difference in returns to holding stock in female-led firms, nor a difference in accounting returns between female-led and male-headed firms.

The Importance of Income Uncertainty on the Relationship of Inequality with the Equity Risk Premium, with C. I. Giannikos and H. Guirguis – International Journal of Business and Economics, 2024

We empirically investigate the relationship between the equity risk premium, income inequality, and income uncertainty in the US economy over the period 1968-2019. Our model involves the examination of dynamic time-varying parameter responses of income inequality to income uncertainty shocks, while controlling for relevant economic and financial indicators. We also allow the relationship between income inequality and the premium to respond asymmetrically to high and low, as well as positive and negative changes in income uncertainty. Our results reveal that income inequality persistently increases the equity premium, regardless of the level of income uncertainty. However, income uncertainty reduces the positive effect of inequality on the premium only for high-income uncertainty, as it does not have any effect for low-income uncertainty.

Inequality, premium and the timing of resolution of uncertainty, with C. I. Giannikos, Finance Research Letters, 2024

We incorporate Epstein-Zin preferences in an exchange economy with income uncertainty and examine the effect of inequality on the equity risk premium. When agents have preference for late resolution of uncertainty, inequality increases the premium for low income uncertainty and decreases the premium for large income uncertainty. When agents have preference for early resolution of uncertainty, inequality increases the equity premium even when the level of income uncertainty is large. Our results suggest that the time preference for resolution of uncertainty has an important effect on income uncertainty, which subsequently affects the relationship of inequality with the equity risk premium.

A study of the effectiveness of governmental strategies for managing mortality rate from COVID-19, with W. Clyde and A. Kakolyris, Eastern Economic Journal, 2021

We investigate the effectiveness of seven government containment and policy closure interventions against the novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) pandemic in the OECD countries, at several different time horizons. Our results indicate that only school closings and public transportation closings have a persistently significant impact. Stay at home policies only show a significant impact after 70 days. Workplace closings, restrictions on the size of gatherings, and restrictions on internal travel show no significant impact on mortality rates. Moreover, stricter measures are not significantly associated with lower growth rates in mortality.

Equity Premium with Habits, Wealth Inequality and Background Risk, with C. I. Giannikos, Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2021

Habits, Wealth and Equity Risk Premium, with C. I. Giannikos, Finance Research Letters, 2021