European SMEs amidst the COVID-19 crisis: assessing impact and policy responses

Juergensen, Jill; Guimón, José; Narula, Rajneesh

doi:10.1007/s40812-020-00169-4

Cited by 390 publications

(411 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global health condition and structure of economic order, pulling the global economy into recession. While the first concern is related to the security of public health, the impact on the global economy and SMEs is enormous (Cowling, Brown, and Rocha 2020;Akpan, Soopramanien, and Kwak 2020;Juergensen, Guim on, and Narula 2020). IMF world economic outlook released on 24 June 2020, forecast a 4.9 percent decline in global GDP in 2020 with considerable downward risk.…”

Section: Implementation Challenges Of State-of-the-art Technologies Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small business awareness and adoption of state-of-the-art technologies in emerging and developing markets, and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

Akpan

Udoh²,

Adebisi

2020

Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship

279

164

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Many challenges continue to hinder digital technologies' adoption by small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies. Comparatively, there are more success stories by SMEs in emerging markets. However, most SMEs operating in the informal sector in the emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) face similar challenges that inhibit the adoption of advanced technologies and innovations needed to improve business operations and re-engineer processes. This article evaluates the implementation and use of state-of-the-art technologies by SMEs in EMDEs to improve operations performance and create sustainable competitive advantages. Further, the papers in this Special Issue identify FinTech and analytical algorithms as some of the current technologies employed by SMEs in EMDEs to improve operations and processes in the manufacturing and service industries. The recognized technologies and technical innovations that seem novel in EMDEs have long existed in the advanced economies. Most state-of-the-art technologies, including cloud computing, 'big data', and predictive analytics that can improve operations and strategic decisions, are yet to make inroads in most EMDEs. Also, disruptive computing technologies, data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT) required to engineer new business models, reduce overheads, enhance competitive advantages, and digitize SMEs' business operations remain untapped. The absence and non-adoption of digital technologies in EMDEs explain why business activities in most EMDEs remain shut during the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and the community lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategies to survive the 'new normal' imposed by COVID-19 and fierce global competition includes a successful adoption of advanced technologies. RÉSUMÉ De nombreux d efis continuent a entraver l'adoption des technologies num eriques par les petites et les moyennes entreprises (PME) dans les economies en d eveloppement. En comparaison, les PME ont plus de succ es dans les march es emergents. Cependant, la plupart de celles qui op erent dans le secteur informel des march es emergents et des economies en d eveloppement (MEED)

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Section: Implementation Challenges Of State-of-the-art Technologies Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small business awareness and adoption of state-of-the-art technologies in emerging and developing markets, and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

Akpan

Udoh²,

Adebisi

2020

Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship

279

164

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The propagation effects on companies, supply chain and employment have been investigated by Guan et al (2020), Juergensen, Guimón, and Narula (2020), Mandel and Veetil (2020), Del Rio-Chanona, Mealy, Pichler, Lafond, and Farmer (2020), Fana, Pérez, and Fernández-Macías (2020) and Gerschel, Martine, and Mejen (2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The informal sector and Covid‐19 economic impacts: The case of Bahia, Brazil

Santos

Ribeiro

Cerqueira³

2020

Regional Science Policy & Practice

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This paper aims to simulate the economic impacts of the withdrawal of informal workers from the labour market due to the social isolation policy implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic in Bahia state, Brazil, where 66% of workers work in the informal sector. We also consider the government income compensation policy to make up part of their income. The partial hypothetical extraction method was used in a regional input-output matrix, base year 2012 with 42 economic sectors. Our simulations show that the withdrawal of informal workers decreases the productive capacity and leads to strong negative impacts on the economy, mainly in the service sectors. On the other hand, the income compensation policy mitigates the negative impacts by about 50%. Moreover, the public administration is the least impacted sector because it is mostly made up of formal workers.

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“…MSMEs are nancially fragile and generally have liquidity and pro tability problems (Juergensen et al 2020). MSMEs are more vulnerable because of their ownership structure (Martin et al 2019), and they generally have lower resilience to external shocks (Juergensen et al, 2020) because of their small size and limited human, nancial and technical resources. The nancial vulnerability of MSMEs was witnessed during the global nancial crisis (GFC) in 2008, which caused a signi cant decline in demand and nancial distress (Cowling et al, 2018).…”

Section: Impact Of the Covid-19 Pandemic On The Msme Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Does it pay to be green? Environmental performance and firm financing during COVID-19 outbreaks

Wellalage

Kumar

2020

Preprint

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This paper examines the effect of firm environmental performance on firm financing during the COVID-19 outbreak. Crises in multiple forms curtail Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) stability and the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people who derive their living from these activities. The way in which MSMEs deal with crises and the extent to which environmental performance is beneficial when the market suffers a negative shock is relatively unexplored in the literature. We consider three aspects of financing -- firm level liquidity, bank credit and bankruptcy probabilities -- and argue that it pays for firms to show commitment to environmental responsibilities in a global pandemic. Through an examination of 3,356 MSMEs, we find that firms with better environmental performance reduce their probability of bankruptcies and their liquidities decreasing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, analysis shows that the impact of a firm’s environmental performance is more pronounced in sensitive industries (hospitality and retail). The results are robust based on a series of robustness checks, including propensity score matching and the Heckman two-stage sample selection model. Our study suggests that the trust between a firm and its stakeholders, if it is grounded on environmental performance, pays off when the overall level of trust in markets suffers a negative shock. JEL Classification: F64; G01; Q14

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European SMEs amidst the COVID-19 crisis: assessing impact and policy responses

Cited by 390 publications

References 18 publications

Small business awareness and adoption of state-of-the-art technologies in emerging and developing markets, and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

Small business awareness and adoption of state-of-the-art technologies in emerging and developing markets, and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic

The informal sector and Covid‐19 economic impacts: The case of Bahia, Brazil

Does it pay to be green? Environmental performance and firm financing during COVID-19 outbreaks

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