This paper uses the COVID-19 outbreak as an exogenous shock to study the impact of information interruption on economic activities, particularly on hedge fund performance. Employing a difference-in-differences approach, we find that hedge funds preferring site visits experience a decline in performance and an increase in the failure risk during lockdowns. Additionally, we discover that physical interactions provide valuable soft information, irreplaceable by virtual communication. Our findings highlight the value of face-to-face interaction in information acquisition.

中文翻译：

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信息中断和对冲基金表现：来自封锁的证据

本文以COVID-19疫情为外生冲击，研究信息中断对经济活动，特别是对对冲基金业绩的影响。采用双重差分法，我们发现更喜欢实地考察的对冲基金在封锁期间业绩会下降，失败风险会增加。此外，我们发现物理交互提供了有价值的软信息，这是虚拟通信无法替代的。我们的研究结果强调了面对面互动在信息获取中的价值。