Coronavirus and the stock market

The following UC Davis faculty can shed light on the stock market dip in light of the coronavirus outbreak. The global supply chain, already under pressure with trade issues, now faces further strain from the coronavirus.

Brad Barber is the Gallagher Professor of Finance at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. Barber’s research focuses on asset pricing, behavioral finance, and private equity. He currently serves on the advisory boards of the Academic Female Finance Committee, or AFFECT, and the Principles of Responsible Investment, or PRI. He was a principal investigator for the CalPERS Sustainable Investment  Research Initiative, or SIRI (2012-16), and the finance department editor for Management Science (2009-12). He is the founder of the Napa Finance Conference. Contact: 530-752-0512; bmbarber@ucdavis.edu

Alan M. Taylor, professor of economics and finance, has appointments in the Department of Economics and the Graduate School of Management. He is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a research fellow of the Center for Economic Policy Research in London. He currently serves as a co-editor at the Journal of International Economics. His research interests span macroeconomics, finance, international trade and economic history. Contact: amtaylor@ucdavis.edu

Òscar Jordà, professor of economics, specializes in macroeconomics, central banking and monetary policy. Together with professor Alan M. Taylor and Sanjay R. Singh authored a working paper in March 2020 on the historic economic effects of pandemics. The research was written about on Bloomberg.com,

 

Food supply and safety

Daniel Sumner, the Frank H. Buck Jr. Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, is the director of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center. He can address food supply-chain issues related to the coronavirus effects. He has been interviewed in multiple media, including this piece for Capital Public Radio. His research and writing focus particularly on the consequences of farm and trade policy on agriculture and the economy. His work on agriculture and trade relates to NAFTA, the European Union and China. Prior to beginning his current position in January 1993, Sumner was the assistant secretary for economics at the United States Department of Agriculture. His research has an emphasis on agricultural trade in the Pacific Rim (especially Korea), dairy industry issues and rice policy. Contact: dasumner@ucdavis.edu

Erin DiCaprio is an assistant Cooperative Extension specialist of food safety in the Department of Food Science and Technology. She can speak about coronavirus and food safety issues. She has expertise in microbial food safety, on-farm food safety related to produce production, food safety of processed foods, and food regulations. She is the regional lead for the Western Regional Center to Enhance Food Safety. She also co-hosts the UC Food Safety website, which contains food safety information for consumers, growers, and food processors. Click here for information on COVID-19 and food safety. Contact: eldicaprio@ucdavis.edu

Food assistance, safety net

Marianne Bitler, professor of economics, has written widely on food assistance programs and the safety net in the United States. Recently, she chaired  a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel advising the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service on a  “A Consumer Food Data System for 2030 and Beyond.” A recent article for Econofact discussed the responsiveness of TANF, SNAP, unemployment insurance and the EITC during the Great Recession. Contact: bitler@ucdavis.edu

Energy, oil and gas prices

Mark Agerton, assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, is available to discuss his research on U.S. oil and gas supply issues. Contact: mjagerton@ucdavis.edu

See also: Source list on tariffs and trade

Psychiatry — reducing anxiety, fear

Peter Yellowlees, M.D., M.B.B.S., is chief wellness officer at UC Davis Health. He is an expert in physician health and telepsychiatry who has published seven books and over 200 scientific articles and book chapters. He was interviewed on Facebook Live about wellness strategies to reduce anxiety brought on by coronavirus. He authored a Medscape commentary about how physicians and health systems can reduce fear around COVID-19. Contact: pmyellowlees@ucdavis.edu; media relations contact: Carole Gan, 916-496-7420, cfgan@ucdavis.edu

Prejudice against Chinese or other Asian Americans

Jeffrey Sherman, professor of psychology, researches and investigates the cognitive processes underlying social psychology and behavior. In particular, he is interested in how people perceive themselves, other people and groups of people. Much of his research focuses on stereotyping and prejudice. The topics he studies include: how people acquire stereotypes and prejudice, how stereotypes and prejudice affect our perceptions and memories of other people, the extent to which these biases are efficient or even automatic, and how people may or may not control unwanted stereotypes and prejudices. In addition to his academic appointment in psychology, Sherman is an affiliated faculty member of the Center for Mind and Brain. He also is principal investigator of the Social Cognition Lab. He currently serves as the editor of Social Cognition. Contact: jsherman@ucdavis.edu

Other psychology sources — socializing, stress, social distancing

Other professors of psychology on various issues related to COVID-19 effects are listed below. The name offers a link to their full biography and website.

• The importance of supportive social relationships for coping with stress — Cam Hostinar, contact: cehostinar@ucdavis.edu 
• Effects of stress on brain and behavior — Brian Trainor, professor and vice chair, Department of Psychology, contact: bctrainor@ucdavis.edu
• Effective persuasion and communication  — Alison Ledgerwood, contact: aledgerwood@ucdavis.edu
• Social distancing issues, such as social inclusion, belonging and loneliness — Cynthia Pickett, contact: cpickett@ucdavis.edu

Risks, social and community

Professor Tom Beamish, sociology, has research and publications focusing on environmental hazards and risks; social and community movements; organizations and the economy; and science, technology and innovation studies. He has recently completed his second book, titled Community at Risk: Biodefense and the Collective Search for Security (Stanford University Press). This book focuses on and compares local community-based civic politics in three different communities surrounding a controversial and risky government led biodefense proposal. He commented about the virus in the Washington Post. Contact: tdbeamish@ucdavis.edu

Forced closures, ‘police power’

Elizabeth Joh, professor of law, has written an article for Politico on the subject of the rights of governments to force businesses, schools and other entities to close. “States — and their cities and counties by extension — possess what has long been known as a ‘police power’ to govern for the health, welfare and safety of their citizens. This broad authority, which can be traced to English common law and is reserved to the states by the 10th Amendment, is far from radical; it justifies why states can regulate at all.” Contact: eejoh@ucdavis.edu