Impact of COVID-19 on the wellbeing of micro and small entrepreneurs of rural Pakistan

Abstract

According to the constitution of Pakistan, the state is responsible for the provision of necessities of life to its citizens whenever their livelihood is permanently or temporarily threatened. COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns were a series of events where amenities of life around the world were seriously endangered. Especially, hard hit were the small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs (SMEs) of rural Pakistan. To quantitatively assess the social and economic impact of COVID-19, we interviewed the local microenterprise owners in rural Pakistan from January to February 2021 and then June 2021. Mean comparison tests were estimated for pre- and post-COVID-19 periods. Results reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly and negatively affected wellbeing of micro and small entrepreneurs in the regions as the income of most of the sampled entrepreneurs significantly decreased during the pandemic. Disaggregated consumption analysis however revealed that nominal consumption of food, clothing, energy, health, and education all increased, except for communication, during the pandemic. Furthermore, the regression analysis revealed that changes in income, occupation, borrowing during COVID-19, and family type of the respondents were significant factors in mitigating the effects of COVID-19. Based on the findings, policy recommendations are also spelled out in the last section.

Using 10-K text to gauge COVID-related corporate disclosure

“…The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered as a negative economic event because it has led to a worldwide recession [ 2 , 19 , 32 ]. As far as we understand, COVID-19 is the first pandemic to cause such widespread economic disruption in modern times [ 33 , 34 ]. The first half of 2020 saw the biggest decline in real GDP since World War II, with the United States experiencing an 11% decline and Europe experiencing a 15% decline [ 3 ].…”

IMPACT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP UPON PHYSICIANS & NURSES PERFORMANCE IN SAUDI HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS

“…With increase in population and social transitions countries are facing numerous public health challenges including communicable and non-communicable diseases such as the infectious diseases, diabetes, and poor quality of the living, obesity, blood pressure, food insecurity, poor demand and supply of health services (Chu, Qiang, Zhou, Qiu, Yang, Song, Zhao & Yang., 2021). Due to major health emergencies such as pandemic that requires the high demand upon health system across the globe (Khan, Zahid & Ullah, Malik, Mughal, Begum, Han & Mohamed, 2022). In hospitals, and primary healthcare centers leaders have to become flexible to adopt change to solve new health challenges.…”

Mental health problems of entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 health crisis: Fear, anxiety, and stress. A systematic review

“…They have faced the difficult decision of whether to continue, pause, or carry on with their operations throughout the pandemic (Anggadwita et al, 2023;Fernández-Bedoya et al, 2021;Maldonado-Cueva et al, 2023;Ngcongo & Ramraj, 2022;Sahi et al, 2023). These conditions, combined with the uncertain and challenging circumstances, could result in mental health problems, such as fear, anxiety or stress, for example (Khan et al, 2022).…”