| Id |
Subject |
Object |
Predicate |
Lexical cue |
| T104 |
0-6 |
Sentence |
denotes |
2.3.1. |
| T105 |
7-22 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Main Hypothesis |
| T106 |
23-141 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Continued increasing public health threats can negatively affect cumulative abnormal return for the following reasons. |
| T107 |
142-278 |
Sentence |
denotes |
First, prior studies show that environmental uncertainty will negatively influence investor valuations and investor sentiment [6,27,28]. |
| T108 |
279-378 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Also, prior studies show that individual psychology is related to stock price valuation [29,30,31]. |
| T109 |
379-566 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Moreover, based on the Sina-Weibo (Chinese microblogging website) content analysis, Han et al. [32] show that public sentiments are sensitively affected by the epidemic and social events. |
| T110 |
567-865 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In the case of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the continued increase in the amount of new confirmed cases in one specific provincial region will enhance the uncertainty of the firms’ short-term and long-term performance in this area, which negatively influences investor valuations of local firms. |
| T111 |
866-1020 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Second, prior research shows that the outbreak of the disease would increase the economic cost and shrink the profits in international markets [33,34,35]. |
| T112 |
1021-1109 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In addition, economic conditions would affect the investors’ expectations of risks [36]. |
| T113 |
1110-1336 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In the case of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the continued increase in the amount of new confirmed cases in one specific provincial region will enhance the local economic cost and then enhance the investors’ risk assessment. |
| T114 |
1337-1485 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Third, several studies show that event risks (e.g., pollution events, hurricane disasters) will have a negative effect on firm valuation [37,38,39]. |
| T115 |
1486-1657 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Moreover, Liu et al. [40] emphasize that significant events lead to abrupt changes in stock prices and volatility, and investors are more likely to hold less risky assets. |
| T116 |
1658-1906 |
Sentence |
denotes |
In the case of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the continued increase in the amount of new confirmed cases in one specific provincial region may increase the event risk and investors would be less likely to hold the financial assets from that area. |
| T117 |
1907-2028 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Overall, firms’ market performance may be negatively affected by the regional continued increasing public health threats. |
| T118 |
2029-2121 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Based on the above discussions, the first hypothesis is as follows (in an alternative form): |
| T119 |
2122-2286 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Hypothesis 1 (H1). Firms located in the provinces where face continued increase of public health threats are more likely to have a poor stock market performance. |
| T120 |
2287-2432 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Notwithstanding the above arguments, there are a few reasons why firms’ market performance may not be negatively affected by COVID-19 situations. |
| T121 |
2433-2531 |
Sentence |
denotes |
First, some investors might not be aware of the risks of the continued increase of COVID-19 cases. |
| T122 |
2532-2654 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Even if investors have this awareness, they would still focus on the long-term performance of their investment portfolios. |
| T123 |
2655-2874 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Second, the COVID-19 outbreak may bring opportunities to firms for generating more products to meet the increased demand currently and in the near future, which potentially leads to a positive effect on the performance. |
| T124 |
2875-3088 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Third, investors might not focus on the daily based non-financial information from the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, which leads to less value relevance for the COVID-19 disclosure. |
| T125 |
3089-3169 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Taken together, whether the results consistent with H1 is an empirical question. |
