Exploring the Effect of Covid-19 on Cooperative Financial Institutions in Bali

Abstract

One impact of the Covid-19 outbreak has been to freeze economic actors, including cooperative financial institutions. This has prompted researchers to investigate the effects of the pandemic on cooperative financial institutions, the majority of whose members are small and medium sized enterprises, and the ways in which cooperative financial institutions have handled this pandemic situation. This research was conducted using qualitative and quantitative methods, by integrating the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Starting with semi-structured questions addressed to managers of cooperative financial institutions, a quantitative study was then carried out, ending with conclusions and recommendations. The preliminary findings of this study are that cooperative financial institutions that adopt digital technology are more likely to survive in the pandemic era, and that the cooperative financial institutions' adoption of technology during this pandemic has been influenced by top management support, ability to cover costs, broadband availability, performance expectations, hedonic motivation, and innovation. The results of exploratory research will be more accurate if they are not limited to geographic boundaries and integrate other popular technology adoption theories. This study first describes the challenges faced by cooperative financial institutions due to the pandemic, then presents how managers of cooperative financial institutions have faced the impact of the crisis.

A comparative study of the impact of Covid-19 on the liquidity of selected microfinance finance institutions in Zambia

“…Another impact of the Covid-19 pandemic can be seen in the research results of Zheng and Zhang (2021), which show a decline in the operational efficiency of financial microfinance institutions (MFIs). The devastating global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has jeopardized the existence of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at global and national levels, as the pandemic has created a business climate that hinders the operations of SMEs, thereby exacerbating an economic crisis influenced by Government policies worldwide and leads to lower household incomes (Rustariyuni et al, 2022). In the Zambian context, financial institutions were just beginning to prepare for the consequences of a prolonged economic downturn when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, plunging the sector into a harsh and uncertain reality.…”