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Determinants of firm performance and growth during economic recession: The case of Central and Eastern European countries

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  • Burger, Anže
  • Damijan, Jože P.
  • Kostevc, Črt
  • Rojec, Matija

Abstract

The crisis has hit the corporate sectors of the new EU member states from Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) more than those of most old EU member states. Taking full account of firm heterogeneity, the paper analyses which characteristics make some CEEC firms more resilient to crisis than others. Using the panel VAR system on a large firm-level dataset, we estimate the responses in firms’ employment and investment to cyclical demand shocks and financial shocks. Controlling for industry, time and country differences, we split firms according to size, age, export status, foreign versus domestic ownership and pre-crisis growth vs. growth during crisis in order to compare firms’ responses between distinct splits. We find that a cyclical drop in demand decreases firms’ employment in subsequent periods, but there is substantial heterogeneity among different types of firms. Old and especially small old firms react more swiftly, whereas the downward adjustment in employment is less severe in exporters and in foreign-owned firms. On the other side, investment does not respond to demand shocks per se, but to the free cash flow component of the business cycle. Differences in country-specific settings also show an important impact on firms’ resistance to crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Burger, Anže & Damijan, Jože P. & Kostevc, Črt & Rojec, Matija, 2017. "Determinants of firm performance and growth during economic recession: The case of Central and Eastern European countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 569-590.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecosys:v:41:y:2017:i:4:p:569-590
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecosys.2017.05.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Golikova Victoria & Kuznetsov Boris, 2016. "The Role of Innovation and Globalization Strategies in Post-Crisis Recovery," HSE Working papers WP BRP 123/EC/2016, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    2. Adah-Kole Emmanuel Onjewu & Sundas Hussain & Mohamed Yacine Haddoud, 2022. "The Interplay of E-commerce, Resilience and Exports in the Context of COVID-19," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1209-1221, August.
    3. Maja Bašiæ & Mile Bošnjak & Ivan Novak, 2023. "Productivity shocks and industry specific effects on export and internationalisation: VAR approach," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 41(1), pages 113-156.
    4. Lichner, Ivan & Lyócsa, Štefan & Výrostová, Eva, 2022. "Nominal and discretionary household income convergence: The effect of a crisis in a small open economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 18-31.
    5. Dejan Maliniæ & Ksenija Denèiæ-Mihajlov & Konrad Grabiñski, 2020. "Reexamination of the determinants of firms’ growth in periods of crisis," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 38(1), pages 101-124.
    6. Yehui Tong & Ramon Saladrigues, 2022. "An analysis of factors affecting the profits of new firms in Spain: Evidence from the food industry," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 68(1), pages 28-38.
    7. Yannis Caloghirou & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Alexandra Kontolaimou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2022. "Inside the black box of high-growth firms in a crisis-hit economy: corporate strategy, employee human capital and R&D capabilities," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 1319-1345, September.
    8. Onjewu, Adah-Kole Emmanuel & Olan, Femi & Nyuur, Richard Benon-be-isan & Paul, Salima & Nguyen, Ha Thanh Truc, 2023. "The effect of government support on Bureaucracy, COVID-19 resilience and export intensity: Evidence from North Africa," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    9. Liridon Kryeziu & Mehmet Bağış & Mehmet Nurullah Kurutkan & Besnik A. Krasniqi & Artan Haziri, 2022. "COVID-19 impact and firm reactions towards crisis: Evidence from a transition economy," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 18(1), pages 169-196.
    10. Victoria Golikova & Boris Kuznetsov & Maxim Korotkov & Andrei Govorun, 2017. "Trajectories of Russian manufacturing firms’ growth after the global financial crisis of 2008–2009: the role of restructuring efforts and regional institutional environment," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 139-157, April.
    11. Marko Peric & Vanja Vitezic, 2016. "Impact of global economic crisis on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-12, January.
    12. A. Sankaran & A. Vadivel & M. Abdul Jamal, 2020. "Effects of dynamic variables on industrial output in one of the world’s fastest-growing countries: case evidence from India," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-8, December.
    13. Hai Long & Xiaochen Lin & Yu Chen, 2021. "Why the Operating Performance of Post-IPO Firms Decreases: Evidence from China," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, September.
    14. Vaz, Rolando, 2021. "Firm Growth: A review of the empirical literature," Revista Galega de Economía, University of Santiago de Compostela. Faculty of Economics and Business., vol. 30(2), pages 1-20.
    15. Trinh, Q. Long & Morgan, Peter J. & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2020. "Investment behavior of MSMEs during the downturn periods: Empirical evidence from Vietnam," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    16. Sami Ben Jabeur & Rabi Belhaj Hassine & Salma Mefteh‐Wali, 2021. "Firm financial performance during the financial crisis: A French case study," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2800-2812, April.
    17. Lee Mihye, 2023. "Determinants of Firm-Level Growth: Lessons from the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 46-57, June.
    18. Ivana Blazkova & Ondrej Dvoulety, 2018. "Sectoral And Firm-Level Determinants Of Profitability: A Multilevel Approach," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Knowledge, Center for International Scientific Research of VSO and VSPP, vol. 6(2), pages 32-44, December.
    19. Hooi Hooi Lean & Irene W.K. Ting, 2016. "Will Penang Based Companies Perform Better than the Market?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(1), pages 528-536.
    20. Marko Peric & Vanja Vitezic, 2016. "Impact of global economic crisis on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-12, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Determinants of firm’s growth; Economic recession; Responsiveness to crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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