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This note provides preliminary evidence on the determinants of the COVID-19 infection and death cases using a sample of 217 countries and territories. We control for a number of country characteristics. These include GDP per capita, and demographic, openness, institutional and geographic variables. We find positive effects of the level of economic development and the size of pediatric population on infection cases. In terms of death cases, the number of infections, the share of geriatric population and the lack of systematic BCG vaccination all play a positive and significant role.

Purpose The literature of financial economics documents a causal relationship between the level of information asymmetry in the firm and its dividend policy. Nevertheless, this relationship suffers endogeneity problems arising from reverse causality and omitted variable bias. The purpose of this study is to examine how the dividend policy reacts to changes in asymmetric information in an exogenous research setting. Design/methodology/approach To overcome endogeneity concerns, the authors employ the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in the US in 2002 as a source of an exogenous variation in the level of information asymmetry to study the potential effect that this variation might have on the dividend policy. In doing so, we utilize a difference-in-differences research design, in which the treatment group is US publicly traded firms that were exposed to the policy and the control group is publicly traded companies in the UK where SOX was not enacted. Both countries have similar institutional settings and enforcement of laws, which makes them comparable in this research context. Findings The authors’ findings show that, compared to UK companies, US firms increase their dividend payments following a reduction in asymmetric information as a result of the SOX enactment. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature of financial economics by showing that policy makers can mitigate agency conflicts and protect shareholders by improving the corporate information environment and reducing asymmetric information.

In 2001, Quebec changed its point system, a system that selects immigrants based on specific observable characteristics. The explicit objective was to increase the number of French-speaking immigrants, with no deterioration in overall labor market performance. To achieve this, points for French and education (specifically bachelor’s degrees) were increased. In parallel, points for a subjective assessment of “adaptability” were decreased. In line with the initial objective, we find more French-speaking immigrants with bachelor’s degrees, and no worsening in labor market outcomes after the reform. These results hold in a difference-in-differences and triple differences analysis. This paper shows how point systems can be used to shape the immigrant workforce according to policy goals.

Using a parental leave reform implemented in Canada at the end of 2000, I study the effects of an increase in maternal care on the developmental outcomes of children aged 2–3 years old. The reform increased the time mothers spent with their newborns by 3 months. Using the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, I employ a difference-in-differences methodology, where I compare children with a sibling born after the reform to those with a sibling born before the reform, relative to children of the same birth cohorts with no siblings born in the period surrounding the reform. Results show that treated children enjoy an increase of 3.6 h per week in the time they spend with their mothers, mainly due to a decrease in the time spent in non-institutional care. The increase in maternal care improves the emotional disorder score in the short-run and has no other impact on cognitive, non-cognitive or health outcomes in the short-run or the medium-run. Studying heterogeneous effects reveals a differential impact by child's age. An increase of 6.5 h per week in the time 2-year-olds spend with their mothers significantly improves their non-cognitive skills.