Effect of the Universal Health Coverage Healthcare System on Stock Returns During COVID-19: Evidence From Global Stock Indices

Chia-Hsien Tang; Yen-Hsien Lee; Win Liu; Li Wei

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.919379

Effect of the Universal Health Coverage Healthcare System on Stock Returns During COVID-19: Evidence From Global Stock Indices

Front Public Health. 2022 Jul 12:10:919379. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.919379. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Chia-Hsien Tang¹, Yen-Hsien Lee², Win Liu², Li Wei¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Accounting and Auditing, Guangxi University of Finance and Economics, Guangxi Accounting Research Institution, Nanning, China.
² Department of Finance, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Abstract

The increased uncertainty caused by a sudden epidemic disease has had an impact on the global financial market. We aimed to assess the primary healthcare system of universal health coverage (UHC) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and its relationship with the financial market. To this end, we employed the abnormal returns of 68 countries from January 2, 2019, to December 31, 2020, to test the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on abnormal returns in the stock market and determine how a country's UHC changes the impact of a sudden pandemic on abnormal returns. Our findings show that the sudden onset of an epidemic disease results in unevenly distributed medical system resources, consequently diminishing the impact of UHC on abnormal returns.

Keywords: abnormal return; coronavirus disease (COVID-19); global stock market; total confirmed cases; universal health coverage.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Delivery of Health Care
Disease Outbreaks
Humans
Pandemics
Universal Health Insurance*