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The study aims to assess whether there are significant differences among EU member states regarding the Russo-Ukrainian-conflict-driven changes in macroeconomic indicators and whether these differences are linked to the country’s energy vulnerability. Applying k-means clustering, three country groups are distinguished, similar with regard to their energy intensity, energy dependence (including dependence on Russian gas), and household budgets’ exposure to energy prices. Based on the Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon pairwise comparison tests, the study reveals statistically significant differences among the distinguished country clusters in the level of inflation and interest rates at the time of this conflict as well as differences in the 2022 forecasts’ changes for GDP, inflation, budget balance and unemployment. The results indicate that EU economies characterised by the most significant energy vulnerability economically suffer the most in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Financial literacy plays a crucial role in individuals' decision-making processes. The paper aims to thoroughly identify the financial literacy needs and challenges of adults with low financial literacy living in rural areas. The paper presents the results of a focus group study conducted among a target group (35 people) and interviews with financial experts (14 people) in the first quarter of 2023. The study allows us to identify common areas of financial knowledge crucial for adults with low financial literacy living in rural areas. The study was conducted in seven European countries as part of the Erasmus+ project "Learning by Experiencing Escape Rooms: Financial Literacy for Adults (FLER)". Key findings from the study revealed that participants exhibited low awareness of financial fraud and expressed a need to protect personal information when using digital platforms. There was a clear demand for improved knowledge in certain areas, such as budgeting, emergency funds, balancing risk and reward, and planning for retirement or long-term savings. Participants consistently viewed gamification as a valuable tool for enhancing their understanding of financial topics. The contribution of our study is that we narrow the research gap on the needs and challenges related to financial literacy among rural residents. The results will help pinpoint specific areas of financial knowledge and competencies that are particularly important for adults with low financial literacy. Moreover, these insights are crucial for developing educational content integrated into a virtual escape room to improve financial literacy through engaging, scenario-based learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, research on trade rebalancing in agri-food supply chains has gained prominence due to trade sanctions, supply chain disruptions, and vulnerabilities exposed by pandemics and conflicts. This study focuses on the recalibration of agri-food trade dynamics, using the 2014 Russian import ban as a case study. The ban significantly altered the structure of agri-food export destinations for affected countries, particularly those sharing a border with Russia (e.g., Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). Employing a cross-section regression model and structural break tests, we assess the trade rebalancing process. Our findings reveal short-term trade rebalancing effects, primarily observed in product groups not traditionally considered main trade specializations. There is evidence that significant part of the lost trade was redirected to EU28 or EAEU countries and end up in the common trade areas of these countries. Furthermore, we argue that the Russian import ban initiated a long-term structural shift in export patterns for non-traditionally traded banned products, while rebalancing for traditionally traded products was significantly quicker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing risks and pandemics at a country level is a complex task that requires transdisciplinary approaches. The paper aims to identify groups of the European Union countries characterized by a similar COVID-19 Resilience Index (CRI). Developed in the paper CRI index reflects the countries' COVID-19 risk and their readiness for a crisis situation, including a pandemic. Moreover, the study detects the factors that significantly differentiate the distinguished groups. According to our research, Bulgaria, Hungary, Malta, and Poland have the lowest COVID-19 Resilience Index score, with Croatia, Greece, Czechia, and Slovakia following close. At the same time, Ireland and Scandinavian countries occupy the top of the leader board, followed by Luxemburg. The Kruskal-Wallis test results indicate four COVID-19 risk indicators that significantly differentiate the countries in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the significant factors are not only COVID-19-related factors, i.e., the changes in residential human mobility, the stringency of anti-COVID-19 policy, but also strictly environmental factors, namely pollution and material footprint. It indicates that the most critical global environmental issues might be crucial in the phase of a future pandemic. Moreover, we detect eight readiness factors that significantly differentiate the analysed country groups. Among the significant factors are the economic indicators such as GDP per capita and labour markets, the governance indicators such as Rule of Law, Access to Information, Implementation and Adaptability measures, and social indicators such as Tertiary Attainment and Research, Innovation, and Infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to assess the credit financing of microenterprises and farmers by commercial and cooperative banks in pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 subperiods. Research method - In the study, we apply the Kruskal-Wallis test and Wilcoxon ranksum pairwise comparison test with the adjustment based on the Benjamini and Hochberg method to check whether there are significant differences in median values of banking loan categories for microenterprises and farmers among commercial and cooperative banks in the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. Results - We observe that microenterprises mostly use commercial banks, while farmers depend majorly on cooperative banks. Additionally, farmers use investment loans more often than microenterprises. We show a significant decline in loan sales and enquiries among microenterprises and farmers during COVID-19. Moreover, we observe the median values of all analysed categories show significant differences between commercial and cooperative banks. It concerns both investment and working capital loans. Originality / value / implications / recommendations - Our contribution is that we analyse this issue from the perspective of leading suppliers offering banking loans, i.e., commercial and cooperative banks. We detect whether analysed banking loan categories differ significantly in the group of microenterprises and farmers across commercial and cooperative banks in Poland in the above-mentioned periods. To our knowledge, there are no similar studies. The results of our study might be helpful for banking institutions and policymakers in the context of a potential future pandemic or crisis situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the paper is to evaluate the online teaching process at universities, and detect shortages and gaps in online learning in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The research results are the initial steps leading to the development of a guide and online open access tools supporting academic teachers in the efficient use of an online didactic process, which will be used broadly. The specific objectives are to identify differences in the assessment of online learning among students from different EU countries, to identify differences between face-to-face and online learning among students from the countries surveyed, to assess the attractiveness of online teaching to students in selected EU countries, and to determine the assessment of the preparation of university teachers for online teaching in the countries surveyed. Using a purposive selection method, five EU countries, i.e., Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland, and Sweden, were selected for the study. The study is based on questionnaires. The survey was conducted among 809 student respondents representing the five countries. The study was carried out in 2021 and the research period was 2020–2021 (before and after pandemic restrictions). It was found that students evaluate online courses much better in countries/universities with a long tradition in online teaching and usage of interactive platforms, than in those without them. Students generally evaluated in-person learning better than online learning, and their evaluation depended on their previous experience of online learning. The degree of preparation for the online courses is strongly correlated with the overall evaluation of these courses. The attractiveness of the online courses is strongly conditioned by the content of engaging, involving and stimulating elements. There is the need for the development of interactive tools and training for teachers, which will increase the attractiveness of online classes for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public guarantee programmes aim to improve access to financing for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and support entrepreneurship. The objective of our paper is to present and assess the de minimis guarantee programme for SMEs in the wholesale and retail trade sector in Poland. In detail, we analyze changes in the number and value of credit guarantees from national and regional perspectives. The research period covers the first eight years of the program functioning, i.e., 2013-2020. Data was gathered from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), a Polish national development bank. The study reveals visible fluctuations in the number and value of de minimis guarantees obtained by the SMEs in the wholesale and retail trade sector. However, in 2019-2020 we observed their substantial growth. SMEs in the analysed sector primarily use the de minimis guarantee programme to secure revolving working capital loans. Micro-enterprises obtain 75% of the total number and 40% of the total value of guarantees. We observe substantial regional differences in the number and value of granted guarantees among 16 Polish voivodeships rooted in the voivodeship size. The t-test analysis confirmed that both numbers and values of credit guarantees are significantly greater in 2019-2020, at a 1% significance level. Such results may indicate an increased need for external support for analysed SMEs due to changes in the de minimis guarantee program, stricter bank lending policy and the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeszyty Naukowe SGGW: Ekonomika i Organizacja Logistyki is the property of Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Faculty of Economic Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: The objective of the article is to identify the groups of regions characterised by a similar level of human capital determinants and investigate the relationship between cluster-based human capital determinants and economic development. Research Design & Methods: We analyse key demographic, health, educational, labour, technological, and cultural determinants of human capital and the level of regional economic development. The research covers the period 2004-2019 for 14 Czech and 16 Polish regions. We apply k-means clustering improved by PCA using data for human capital determinants. To verify significant differences between distinguished clusters, we apply the Kruskal-Wallis test. To assess the interdependence between human capital determinants and regional economic development, we use Spearman rank correlation. Findings: We distinguish three clusters for Czechia and four clusters for Poland that differ significantly in terms of human capital determinants level. Moreover, we show that both Czech and Polish clusters significantly differ in the median level of GDP per capita. It implies the existence of interdependence between human capital determinants and economic development. We reveal a positive and significant relationship between GDP per capita and life expectancy, higher education rate, economic activity rate, and Internet access, and a negative and significant relationship between the number of library users and the regional economic development. The results are consistent for Czechia and Poland. Implications & Recommendations: Our study could create a new perspective for discussing similarities and differences in regional human capital development. The results could help decision-makers to identify the regions that need the most to stimulate the human capital determinants to reduce the differences in human capital, and in the long-term perspective, it might contribute to the regional economic development growth. Contribution & Value Added: Most studies analyse the relationship between human capital and economic growth and development using data for given regions or countries separately. Our contribution is that we first distinguish clusters representing regions with similar human capital levels. Then, based on cluster data, we assess the relationship between the human capital determinants and economic development. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no similar regional research studies conducted to daye, including Czechia and Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to assess the relationship between Azerbaijani and Kazakhstani exchange rates and crude oil prices volatility. The study applies the structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model. The paper concentrates on Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the post-Soviet countries considered as some of the most oil-dependent countries in the Caspian Sea region. The impulse response functions suggest that the rise of crude oil prices is associated with the exchange rates decrease and thus with an Azerbaijani manat and Kazakhstani tenge appreciation against the U.S. dollar. Moreover, the results suggest that an oil price increase leads to the rise of Azerbaijani international reserves. However, the results are insignificant for the Kazakhstani foreign exchange reserves. Additionally, the study reveals a negative and significant relationship between crude oil prices and USD/KZT in both pre-crisis and the COVID-19 crisis periods. We reveal that the correlation has been stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the relationship is not significant in the case of the Azerbaijani manat. The USD/AZN exchange rate has been stable since 2017, and the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has not caused a change in the exchange rate and a weakening of the Azerbaijani currency, despite significant drops in crude oil prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeszyty Naukowe SGGW: Ekonomika i Organizacja Logistyki is the property of Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Faculty of Economic Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The novel coronavirus pandemic has hit the Polish economy, including business activity. The paper aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the credit financing of microenterprises and farmers in Poland. We analyse investment loans and working capital loans, particularly the changes in the number and value of these loans, the number of loan enquiries, and the share of non-performing loans. The research period covers the two-year period, including the pre-COVID-19 subperiod from March 2019 till February 2020 and the COVID-19 subperiod from March 2020 till February 2021. We obtain monthly data from BIK. The BIK Group is the main source of credit and economic information in Poland. The study reveals a significant decrease in the number and value of investment loans and working capital loans during the COVID-19 period compared to the pre-COVID-19 period both in groups of microenterprises and farmers. Surprisingly, despite the difficult time for entrepreneurs, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced the number of loans enquiries. As we expected, the number and value of non-performing loans increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the value of non-performing investment loans in the group of microenterprises increased marginally. Our research can be helpful for decision-makers and credit market participants, including national governments, financial market supervisory institutions, banks, and micro-entrepreneurs, and farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture or agrarian sectors together with non-resource manufacturing can be the key drivers of non-mineral development among natural resource-rich countries. However, agricultural development lags behind the extractive industry which puts a big share of the labor force into an uncertain position and creates food security risks. In Azerbaijan, which is an oil-rich post-soviet country, details focus on individual exports like vegetable exports that have not been carried out against specific economic indicators such as the Extractives Dependence Index (EDI), the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER), etc. This paper is based on one-way variance analysis (ANOVA) and Tukey’s honest significance test (Tukey’s HSD test), as well as the Granger causality test. Our analysis shows that Azerbaijan’s dependency on natural resources (measured by the EDI) has a significant effect on the value of vegetable exports. Moreover, the Granger causality test revealed a one-side causal relationship from the REER and production costs to the vegetable exports, at a 10% significance level. Similarly, a unidirectional Granger causal relationship from crude oil prices to the REER, at a 1% significance level was found. Thus, our findings indicate that overall Dutch disease affects the Azerbaijan economy towards vegetable exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forward premium anomaly is one of the most popular puzzles in the theory of international finance. The phenomenon is explained by, among others, the existence of non-zero risk premium in the foreign exchange market. The paper applies ARCH-in-mean models to assess whether there exists a time-varying risk premium in the USD/PLN and AUD/JPY foreign exchange markets. The results indicate the existence of a non-zero risk premium in the analyzed markets. As far as the USD/PLN is concerned, the risk premium takes negative values when the risk measured by conditional variance rises. The results suggest that when there is a surge in risk, the US dollar's appreciation and Polish zloty depreciation increases. The results confirm the US dollar as a safe-haven currency that tends to appreciate during high-volatility and crisis periods. Moreover, the study shows that the risk premium in the AUD/JPY market takes positive values when the risk measured by conditional variance rises. It implies that when there is a mount in risk, the appreciation of Japanese yen increases. Furthermore, research results reveal the positive and significant relationship between stock market uncertainty and exchange rates conditional volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia is the property of Wydawnictwo SGGW and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia is the property of Wydawnictwo SGGW and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The principle for an effective management of the national economy is to create long-term development strategy. Taking determined decisions increase the chance of future growth. A necessary condition for an effective change, however, is basing them on sound and well-chosen premises. It is also essential, to continuously monitor progress and adjust actions if necessary. For this purpose, appropriate measures are required. The progressive process of environmental degradation, marginalization of national and ethnic groups, as well as the prospect of running out of energy resources, attracted greater attention to sustainable development. Among the main objectives of the sustainable development strategy in the EU, beside economic welfare, isthe protection of the environment, as well as equity and social cohesion. These objectives are convergent with emerging measures of welfare, which in contrast to GDP also include other elements that determine the real welfare of people affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to detect the differences in stock market performance between companies from the alternative energy sector and main stock market sectors in the first and second years of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used Global Industry Classification Standard to analyse eleven main stock market sectors and the alternative energy sector. Based on the one-factor variance analysis—ANOVA, we reveal the statistically significant differences between the analysed stock market sectors in both 2020 and 2021. The analysis implied that the performance of stock market companies during COVID-19 is sector-specific. Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) test for pairwise comparison indicates that the alternative energy sector shows the most differentiation. Its average rate of return in 2020 is the highest and is significantly different for all eleven stock market sectors, while the top constituents from the conventional energy and financial sectors suffered the most. In 2021, a reverse trend in the stock prices can be observed. Companies from the conventional energy and financial sectors achieved the highest positive average weekly rates of return among all of the analysed stock market sectors, while the alternative energy sector performed significantly worse than the other sectors did. Nevertheless, throughout the entire analyses period of 2020–2021, the companies from the alternative energy sector turned out to be the biggest stock market beneficiaries. This study might imply that the COVID-19 pandemic has not hampered but has instead accelerated growing concerns about the environment and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to identify groups of countries characterised by a similar human mobility reaction to COVID-19 and investigate whether the differences between distinguished clusters result from the stringency of government anti-COVID-19 policy or are linked to another macroeconomic factor. We study how COVID-19 affects human mobility patterns, employing daily data of 124 countries. The analysis is conducted for the first and second waves of the novel coronavirus pandemic separately. We group the countries into four clusters in terms of stringency level of government anti-COVID-19 policy and six mobility categories, using k-means clustering. Moreover, by applying the Kruskal–Wallis test and Wilcoxon rank-sum pairwise comparison test, we assess the existence of significant differences between the distinguished clusters. We confirm that the pandemic has caused significant human mobility changes. The study shows that a more stringent anti-COVID-19 policy is related to the greater decline in mobility. Moreover, we reveal that COVID-19-driven mobility changes are also triggered by other factors not related to the pandemic. We find the Human Development Index (HDI) and its components as driving factors of the magnitude of mobility changes during COVID-19. The greater human mobility reaction to COVID-19 refers to the country groups representing higher HDI levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the effectiveness of the currency market is one of the most important research problems in the field of finance. The paper aims to assess the efficiency of the Polish zloty exchange rate market. We test the market efficiency by applying two independent approaches, one based on the Uncovered Interest Parity theory, and another based on the fractal analysis of exchange rates series. The research results show that the Uncovered Interest Parity holds only on the USD/PLN market. For EUR/PLN, JPY/PLN, CHF/PLN, MXN/PLN and TRY/PLN, the Uncovered Interest Parity hypothesis is rejected and implies the existence of the forward premium anomaly and market inefficiency. The estimated Hurst coefficient provides insight into the long-range dependence of exchange rates. The MXN/PLN, TRY/PLN and EUR/PLN exchange rates exhibit anti-persistent behaviours suggesting mean-reverting characteristics. For JPY/PLN and CHF/PLN, a high value of the Hurst exponent indicates long memory in the time series. Only for USD/PLN, we achieve the Hurst exponent closest to 0.5, which implies market efficiency. The research results obtained based on the UIP hypothesis and fractal analysis are consistent. The study reveals that the market efficiency hypothesis holds only for the most tradable Polish zloty currency pair, i.e., USD/PLN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak and rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the global financial markets, including the energy sector. Alternative energy belongs to the economy's key sectors concerning environmental issues and seems to be a full-fledged alternative for fossil-based conventional energy. This paper aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the stock market indices related to the alternative and conventional energy sector. We use daily data on the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Global Alternative Energy Index, the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) Energy Index, and self-developed Average-49 COVID-19 New Cases Index and Average-49 Stringency Index. The research covers the period January–October 2020. The average level of the MSCI Global Alternative Energy Index in COVID-19 year was more than a quarter higher than in 2019 while the MSCI ACWI Energy fell almost one-third in the same period. Based on the Markov-switching model, we show that both the MSCI Global Alternative Energy and the MSCI ACWI Energy are not significantly affected by the epidemic status. The analysed indices decline as the government anti-COVID-19 policy becomes more stringent, but the relationship is statistically significant only in the high-volatility regime. In comparison to the conventional energy index, we reveal that the alternative energy index stays most of its time in the low-volatility regime without being adversely and significantly affected by the COVID-19 related indicators. Our study shows that the alternative energy sector, represented by the MSCI Global Alternative Energy Index, seems to be more resistant to COVID-19 than the conventional energy sector. It might imply that the novel coronavirus pandemic has not depreciated but emphasised the growing concern about climate change and environmental pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Securitization of the agricultural commodity market has accelerated since the beginning of the 21st century, particularly in the times of financial market uncertainty and crisis. Sugar belongs to the group of important agricultural commodities. The global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial increase in the stock market volatility. Moreover, the novel coronavirus hit both the sugar market's supply and demand side, resulting in sugar stock changes. The paper aims to assess potential structural changes in the relationship between sugar prices and the financial market uncertainty in a crisis time. In more detail, using sequential Bai–Perron tests for structural breaks, we check whether the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have induced structural breaks in that relationship. Sugar prices are represented by the S&P GSCI Sugar Index, while the S&P 500 option-implied volatility index (VIX) is used to show stock market uncertainty. To investigate the changes in the relationship between sugar prices and stock market uncertainty, a regression model with a sequential Bai–Perron test for structural breaks is applied for the daily data from 2000–2020. We reveal the existence of two structural breaks in the analysed relationship. The first breakpoint was linked to the global financial crisis outbreak, and the second occurred in December 2011. Surprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has not induced the statistically significant structural change. Based on the regression model with Bai–Perron structural changes, we show that from 2000 until the beginning of the global financial crisis, the relationship between the sugar prices and the financial market uncertainty was insignificant. The global financial crisis led to a structural change in the relationship. Since August 2008, we observe a significant and negative relationship between the S&P GSCI Sugar Index and the S&P 500 option-implied volatility index (VIX). Sensitivity analysis conducted for the different financial market uncertainty measures, i.e., the S&P 500 Realized Volatility Index confirms our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to assess changes in mobility in public transport in Poland, as a consequence of the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyse the problem from the country and regional (voivodeships) perspective. The data come from Google COVID19 Community Mobility Reports, the Ministry of Health of Poland, and the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. The research covers the period between 2 March and 19 July 2020. The obtained results show that there is negative but insignificant relationship between human mobility changes in public transport and the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Poland. The strength and statistical significance of the correlation varies substantially across voivodeships. As far as the relationship between changes in mobility in public transport and the stringency of Polish government's anti-COVID-19 policy is concerned, the results confirm a strong, negative and significant correlation between analysed variables at the national and regional level. Moreover, based on one factor variance analysis (ANOVA) and the Tukey's honest significance test (Tukey's HSD test) we indicate that there are significant differences observed regarding the changes in mobility in public transport depending on the level of stringency of anti-COVID-19 regulation policy both in Poland and all voivodeships. The results might indicate that the forced lockdown to contain the development of the COVID-19 pandemic has effectively contributed to social distancing in public transport in Poland and that government restrictions, rather than a local epidemic status, induce a greater decrease in mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has made a significant impact on the global financial markets. The aim of this paper is to assess the short-term reaction of the Visegrad countries' financial markets to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Visegrad Group is a political alliance of four Central European countries, namely Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The financial assessment is based on the EUR/CZK, EUR/HUF, and EUR/PLN exchange rates and the major blue-chip stock market indices, that is Prague PX, Budapest BUX, Warsaw WIG20, and Bratislava SAX. It is evident that the ongoing pandemic has changed the expectations of the financial market participants about the future value of exchange rates in the Visegrad countries. This study indicates that, as a consequence of COVID-19, higher probability has been attached to the large depreciation of the Czech koruna (CZK), the Hungarian forint (HUF), and the Polish zloty (PLN) than to their large appreciation. Moreover, based on the TGARCH model, the positive and significant correlation between the number of reported COVID-19 cases and the exchange rates has been confirmed, implying that the ongoing pandemic has resulted in the depreciation of the Visegrad currencies. Additionally, the result of the TGARCH model reveals that there is a significant and negative link between the Visegrad stock market indices and the COVID-19 spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]