RETRACTED ARTICLE: Macroeconomic lockdown effects of COVID-19 on small business in China: empirical insights from SEM technique

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the China has exposed small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to a variety of challenges, some of which are potentially life-threatening to their sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the macroeconomic lockdown effects of COVID-19 on small business in China. A survey questionnaire with 313 participants was used to collect the data. In this study, the SEM technique was used to analyse model. The data have been gathered for the study from the managers and employees of Chinese SMEs. The findings of the study show that COVID-19 has a significant negative impact on financial performance, operational performance, profitability, access to finance, and customer satisfaction. According to the study's findings, external support aids have a greater impact on SMEs' ability to survive and thrive through innovation than on their actual performance. The findings of this study have a number of important practical consequences for small-and medium-sized business owners, governments, and policymakers.

Statistical analysis of small business survival under the shock of multiple COVID-19 waves: A case study from Wuhan, China

“…Rent equipment or tax reductions and loans rose 1.9 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, indicating that they are the most effective equipment to boost business alive. Many previous studies have demonstrated that the pandemic has had an obvious repercussion on businesses survival (Xiao and Su, 2020;Carracedo and Puertas, 2021;Grondys and Lusarczyk, 2021). Thus, it was expected that the higher the number of lockdown waves, the lower would have been their survival rate.…”

“…Exposure on online social media could increase product sales during a pandemic and thus improve businesses' survival (Katare and Marshall, 2021). Furthermore, employees' reduction and rent subsidies could reduce the cost of running businesses and increase the probability of their survival (Xiao and Su, 2020).…”

“…To date there are many relevant existing previous studies which used the Bayesian network to discuss the influencing factors of dependent variables or the causal relationship between variables (Chen and Lv, 2022;Johnson and Lulla, 2022;Xie and Xie, 2022), demonstrating the usability and validity of using this model to explore the factors influencing sustained business operations. Accordingly, the current study referred to the existing studies on post-pandemic business recovery or sustained operation (Xiao and Su, 2020;Katare and Marshall, 2021;Raghavan and Demircioglu, 2021;Taneo and Noya, 2021) and constructed a Bayesian network structure model based on the causal relationship between variables discussed in the previous studies, as shown in Figure 2.…”

Research on the Impact of the COVID-19 on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in China

“…Many companies had to shut down or limit operations as a result of the pandemic so that the virus would not spread further. SMEs were particularly hard hit since they lacked the financial resources and resiliency of their bigger counterparts [12]. Supply chains were thrown off by lockdowns, travel restrictions, and labor shortages, making it impossible for SMEs to get supplies and components.…”

“…This shift not only helped SMEs weather the storm, but also set them up for success in the emerging digital economy. SMEs have trouble keeping a consistent staff due to lockdowns and mobility restrictions [12]. In order to keep businesses running, many people have had to start using remote workers and digital communication technologies.…”