Conference Paper
The Great Lockdown and the Small Business: Impact, Channels and Adaptation to the Covid Pandemic
No.
ERF19AC_86
Publisher
ERF
Date
May, 2023
In this paper we estimate the effects of the pandemic on Tunisian SMEs in 2020 using Difference-in-Difference specifications. Three simultaneous shocks are examined: the lockdown shock, the demand shock and the intermediate input shock. We find that the loss directly induced by the lockdown became less important after the reopening and mostly critical for employment. The demand shock following the lockdown was the major shock to firms’ revenue. The intermediate input shortage was alleviated by the decrease in demand and the limited access to customers. Small firms were less exposed to the demand and intermediate input
shocks while partially exporting and foreign firms were shown to be more resilient. Finally, using our firm survey, we find that firms that were actually able to make an adaptation were all better off. However the effects of each type of adaptation were different: process adaptation was accentuated in essential sectors while workplace adaptation and trade credit were important to all sectors.
Authors
Phuong Minh Le
Research Intern, Centre for Analysis and Forecast...
Speakers
Lisa Chauvet
Professor of Economics, University of Paris 1...
Research Fellows
Mohamed Ali Marouani
Associate Professor, Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne