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Prof. Oner Guncavdı | Istanbul Technical University

Evaluating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment, income distribution & poverty in Turkey

The recent World Economic Outlook by the World Bank forecasts a 3.8 % decline in GDP in 2020.  However, the impacts of the pandemic on inequality and poverty are likely to be unprecedented, and this issue has largely been ignored. The objective of the present paper is to estimate the likely impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on unemployment, inequality and poverty in Turkey.  The paper proposes a heuristic approach to estimate the impacts of the pandemic on unemployment in different sectors and on inequality and poverty.  A hypothetical condition is generated under different scenarios that propose a particular impact pattern for the pandemic, and the data from the Survey of Income and Living Conditions in 2017 is used for the simulations of different scenarios. The results show that the pandemic is likely to cause a dramatic increase not only in unemployment but also in inequality and poverty in Turkey

Please check this link to see detailed CV of Prof. Oner Guncavdı.

Prof. Mohammad Kabir Hassan | University of New Orleans 

The Crossroads of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Scores and Religious Screening on Firm Risk

Using a large and extended global dataset of non-financial firms (4,624 listed entities from 2002 to 2018), we provide the first empirical evidence on how the interaction between ESG and Sharia screenings influences market risks. We link two contrasting literature streams: the risk reduction role documented for ESG scores by the stakeholder theory, and the opposite effect from Sharia-compliance anticipated by the portfolio and agency theories. We find that when ESG scores are not considered, Sharia certification increases risks. We prove that engagement in sustainable activities mitigates risks for both Sharia-compliant and conventional firms. More interestingly, we show that Sharia-compliant firms obtain a larger risk-mitigating effect for greater levels of ESG scores. These results are robust to endogeneity and to extensive additional checks. Our findings validate the hypothesized complementarity between ESG and Sharia screenings.

Please check this link to see detailed CV of Prof. Mohammad Kabir Hassan.