Climate Policy Uncertainty and Infectious Disease Risk: An Evidence for Islamic Dow Jones Index

Climate change and infectious diseases have emerged as two of the most significant challenges facing the world and its economic systems today. Recent studies have increasingly focused on understanding how phenomena such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate change crisis—including rising greenhouse gas emissions and uncertainties in climate policy—affect macroeconomic variables and capital markets. Many experts assert that climate change poses a serious threat to human civilization. In light of these pressing concerns, this paper examines the impact of Climate Policy Uncertainty (CPU) and Infectious Disease Risk (IDR) on the Islamic Dow Jones Index (IDJ). To achieve this, the study utilizes monthly data spanning from January 2016 to March 2021 and employs a Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model. Additionally, Contour Plot graphs are applied to estimate the interaction effects on the IDJ. The findings reveal contrasting impacts of the CPU and IDR indices on the IDJ. Specifically, an increase in the CPU index leads to higher utilization of the Earth's resources for producing goods and services by companies included in the index, resulting in a positive effect. Conversely, a rise in the IDR index exacerbates economic recession, thereby causing a decline in the IDJ.