IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/apjors/v8y2024i2d10.1007_s41685-024-00339-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

External shock, stimulus policy and economic resilience of small and micro businesses: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in China

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Xu

    (Harbin Institute of Technology)

  • Jingjing Li

    (Harbin Institute of Technology)

  • Yujun Wu

    (Harbin Institute of Technology)

Abstract

How resilient are Small and Micro Businesses (SMBs) facing the COVID-19 pandemic? We aim to answer this question using sales data from 35,000 brick-and-mortar SMBs in 353 Chinese cities before, during, and after the lockdown period of COVID-19, and examine the economic resilience of SMBs under the impact of governmental stimulus policies. We found that unlike large business entities, SMBs’ post-shock resilience is weak, as sales of SMBs do not recover to pre-shock levels. Resilience of SMBs in towns with unitary or small-scale economic structure is stronger than in larger cities, indicating that stickiness of consumption behaviour significantly influences recovery. In the midterm, resilience of SMBs was stronger where local governments implemented offline consumption stimulus policies and this effect was more salient in larger cities. In the long run, SMBs have not shown resilience, indicating pandemic-driven digital transformation of retailing has lasting effects on offline SMBs. Our empirical findings are helpful for policymakers worldwide 1) to understand economic resilience and recovery paths for SMBs facing external shock, 2) to design targeted stimulus policies to help SMBs survive during crises, and 3) to pay more attention to providing digital transformation infrastructures so SMBs can truly strengthen their sustainability in this new era of digital economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Xu & Jingjing Li & Yujun Wu, 2024. "External shock, stimulus policy and economic resilience of small and micro businesses: evidence from COVID-19 pandemic in China," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 585-613, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:apjors:v:8:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s41685-024-00339-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s41685-024-00339-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41685-024-00339-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41685-024-00339-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keane, Michael & Neal, Timothy, 2021. "Consumer panic in the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 220(1), pages 86-105.
    2. Vivek Ghosal & Yang Ye, 2015. "Uncertainty and the employment dynamics of small and large businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 529-558, March.
    3. Georgij Alekseev & Safaa Amer & Manasa Gopal & Theresa Kuchler & J. W. Schneider & Johannes Stroebel & Nils Wernerfelt, 2023. "The Effects of COVID-19 on U.S. Small Businesses: Evidence from Owners, Managers, and Employees," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 7-24, January.
    4. Sheth, Jagdish, 2020. "Impact of Covid-19 on consumer behavior: Will the old habits return or die?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 280-283.
    5. Klyver, Kim & Nielsen, Suna Løwe, 2021. "Which crisis strategies are (expectedly) effective among SMEs during COVID-19?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    6. Yacine Belghitar & Andrea Moro & Nemanja Radić, 2022. "When the rainy day is the worst hurricane ever: the effects of governmental policies on SMEs during COVID-19," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 943-961, February.
    7. Martin Feldkircher & Florian Huber & Michael Pfarrhofer, 2021. "Measuring the effectiveness of US monetary policy during the COVID‐19 recession," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(3), pages 287-297, July.
    8. Pearce, John II & Michael, Steven C., 1997. "Marketing strategies that make entrepreneurial firms recession-resistant," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 301-314, July.
    9. Hitesh Doshi & Praveen Kumar & Vijay Yerramilli, 2018. "Uncertainty, Capital Investment, and Risk Management," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(12), pages 5769-5786, December.
    10. Granja, João & Makridis, Christos & Yannelis, Constantine & Zwick, Eric, 2022. "Did the paycheck protection program hit the target?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 725-761.
    11. Nawal Abdalla Adam & Ghadah Alarifi, 2021. "Innovation practices for survival of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the COVID-19 times: the role of external support," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, December.
    12. Qiao Liu & Qiaowei Shen & Zhenghua Li & Shu Chen, 2021. "Stimulating Consumption at Low Budget: Evidence from a Large-Scale Policy Experiment Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(12), pages 7291-7307, December.
    13. Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Martinez Peria, Maria Soledad & Tressel, Thierry, 2020. "The global financial crisis and the capital structure of firms: Was the impact more severe among SMEs and non-listed firms?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    14. Thorgren, Sara & Williams, Trenton Alma, 2020. "Staying alive during an unfolding crisis: How SMEs ward off impending disaster," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    15. Alexander W. Bartik & Marianne Bertrand & Zoe Cullen & Edward L. Glaeser & Michael Luca & Christopher Stanton, 2020. "The impact of COVID-19 on small business outcomes and expectations," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(30), pages 17656-17666, July.
    16. Luca Bonacini & Giovanni Gallo & Fabrizio Patriarca, 2021. "Identifying policy challenges of COVID-19 in hardly reliable data and judging the success of lockdown measures," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 275-301, January.
    17. Thomas Philippon, 2021. "Efficient Programs to Support Businesses During and After Lockdowns," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(1), pages 188-203.
    18. Ron Martin, 2012. "Regional economic resilience, hysteresis and recessionary shocks," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-32, January.
    19. Eleanor J. Murray, 2020. "Epidemiology's Time of Need: COVID-19 Calls for Epidemic-Related Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 105-120, Fall.
    20. Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirguc-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2014. "Who creates jobs in developing countries?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 75-99, June.
    21. Dai, Ruochen & Feng, Hao & Hu, Junpeng & Jin, Quan & Li, Huiwen & Wang, Ranran & Wang, Ruixin & Xu, Lihe & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): Evidence from two-wave phone surveys in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    22. Truong, Dothang & Truong, My D., 2022. "How do customers change their purchasing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    23. Devece, Carlos & Peris-Ortiz, Marta & Rueda-Armengot, Carlos, 2016. "Entrepreneurship during economic crisis: Success factors and paths to failure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 5366-5370.
    24. Veronique Vermoesen & Marc Deloof & Eddy Laveren, 2013. "Long-term debt maturity and financing constraints of SMEs during the Global Financial Crisis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 433-448, August.
    25. Luciano Ciravegna & Snejina Michailova, 2022. "Why the world economy needs, but will not get, more globalization in the post-COVID-19 decade," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(1), pages 172-186, February.
    26. Eggers, Fabian, 2020. "Masters of disasters? Challenges and opportunities for SMEs in times of crisis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 199-208.
    27. Vasi, Melissa & Sansone, Giuliano & English, Vincent, 2024. "Exogenous crises and SMEs resilience: The Dynamic Open Innovation Funnel," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    28. Luis Pedauga & Francisco Sáez & Blanca L. Delgado-Márquez, 2022. "Macroeconomic lockdown and SMEs: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 665-688, February.
    29. Wei, Xiaoyun & Han, Liyan, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on transmission of monetary policy to financial markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    30. Jill Juergensen & José Guimón & Rajneesh Narula, 2020. "European SMEs amidst the COVID-19 crisis: assessing impact and policy responses," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 47(3), pages 499-510, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gagan Deep Sharma & Sascha Kraus & Amogh Talan & Mrinalini Srivastava & Christina Theodoraki, 2024. "Navigating the storm: the SME way of tackling the pandemic crisis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 221-241, June.
    2. Marina Sheresheva & Marina Efremova & Lilia Valitova & Anna Polukhina & Georgy Laptev, 2021. "Russian Tourism Enterprises’ Marketing Innovations to Meet the COVID-19 Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Tan Poh Ling & Nurzihan Hassim & Nur Nadira Binti Mohammad Bashir, 2024. "SME Preparedness in Surviving the Health Pandemic in Malaysia," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, May.
    4. Chen, Zhuo & Li, Pengfei & Liao, Li & Liu, Lu & Wang, Zhengwei, 2024. "Assessing and addressing the coronavirus-induced economic crisis: Evidence from 1.5 billion sales invoices," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Olivier Torrès & Alexandre Benzari & Christian Fisch & Jinia Mukerjee & Abdelaziz Swalhi & Roy Thurik, 2022. "Risk of burnout in French entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 crisis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 717-739, February.
    6. Sabrina T. Howell & Theresa Kuchler & David Snitkof & Johannes Stroebel & Jun Wong, 2024. "Lender Automation and Racial Disparities in Credit Access," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(2), pages 1457-1512, April.
    7. Zhou, Ye & Huang, Difang & Chen, Muzi & Wang, Yunlong & Yang, Xiaoguang, 2024. "How did small business respond to unexpected shocks? Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Kim, Jihee & Lee, Susang, 2024. "Can stimulus checks to households save the local economy? The impact of South Korea’s COVID-19 stimulus on small business sales," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 159-176.
    9. Hoelscher, Kristian & Garcia, Catalina G., 2024. "SMEs, violence and crisis: Stylized facts from a survey in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    10. Kusa, Rafał & Duda, Joanna & Suder, Marcin, 2022. "How to sustain company growth in times of crisis: The mitigating role of entrepreneurial management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 377-386.
    11. Ströbel, Johannes & Howell, Sabrina & Kuchler, Theresa & Snitkof, David, 2021. "Racial Disparities in Access to Small Business Credit: Evidence from the Paycheck Protection Program," CEPR Discussion Papers 16623, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Debadutta Panda & Rohit Bhardwaj & Tulika Sharma & Sriharsha Reddy, 2024. "Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Navigating Through the Covid Pandemic in India: an Examination Through the Systems Approach," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 483-498, August.
    13. Kochaniak, Katarzyna & Ulman, Paweł & Zajkowski, Robert, 2023. "Effectiveness of COVID-19 state aid for microenterprises in Poland," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 483-497.
    14. Martina Pilloni & József Kádár & Tareq Abu Hamed, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Energy Start-Up Companies: The Use of Global Financial Crisis (GFC) as a Lesson for Future Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    15. Wu, Jianxin & Zhan, Xiaoling & Xu, Hui & Ma, Chunbo, 2023. "The economic impacts of COVID-19 and city lockdown: Early evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 151-165.
    16. Chen, Joy & Cheng, Zijun & Gong, Robin Kaiji & Li, Jinlin, 2022. "Riding out the COVID-19 storm: How government policies affect SMEs in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    17. Florian Horky & Nicola Tretter & Jarko Fidrmuc, 2021. "Are the pandemic and innovation twins? Perceived financial obstacles, innovations, and entrepreneurial success," Economic Research Guardian, Mutascu Publishing, vol. 11(2), pages 236-254, December.
    18. Magdalena Olczyk & Marta Ewa Kuc-Czarnecka, 2021. "Determinants of COVID-19 Impact on the Private Sector: A Multi-Country Analysis Based on Survey Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.
    19. Bressan, Alessandro & Duarte Alonso, Abel & Thi Kim Vu, Oanh, 2023. "Business-community relations under COVID-19: A study of micro and small firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    20. Ashraf Mishrif & Asharul Khan, 2023. "Technology adoption as survival strategy for small and medium enterprises during COVID-19," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Small and micro businesses; Economic resilience; COVID-19 pandemic shock; Lockdown; Stimulus policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:apjors:v:8:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s41685-024-00339-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.