The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Asset-Price Discovery : Testing the Case of Chinese Informational Asymmetry

The circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic have generated substantial international political strain as governments attempt to mitigate the widespread associated social and economic repercussions. One theory has focused on the potential for Chinese informational asymmetry. Using Chinese financial market data, we attempt to establish the scale and direction of information flows during multiple distinct phases of the outbreak. Two specific results are identified. Firstly, the majority of domestically-traded Chinese stocks present evidence of significant information flows at a far earlier stage than internationally-traded comparatives, suggesting that domestic investors recognised the dangers associated with COVID-19 far in advance of the rest of the world as the severity of the domestically-reported Chinese news was not appropriately recognised by international investors. Secondly, while evidence of safe-haven and flight-to-safety behaviour is evident throughout traditional energy and precious metal markets, cryptocurrencies became informationally-synchronised with Chinese equity markets, indicating their use as an investor safe-haven, a concerning outcome for international policy-maker and regulatory authorities due to the fragility of these developing markets.Online Appendices available at: "https://ssrn.com/abstract=3623252" https://ssrn.com/abstract=3623252