IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/15290.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effects of COVID-19 on U.S. Small Businesses: Evidence from Owners, Managers, and Employees

Author

Listed:
  • Ströbel, Johannes
  • Alekseev, Georgij
  • Amer, Safaa
  • Gopal, Manasa
  • Kuchler, Theresa
  • Schneider, JW
  • Wernerfelt, Nils

Abstract

We analyze a large-scale survey of owners, managers, and employees of small businesses in the United States to understand the effects of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic on those businesses. The survey was fielded in late April 2020 among Facebook business page administrators, frequent sellers on Facebook's e-commerce platform Marketplace, and the general Facebook user population. We observe more than 66,000 responses covering most sectors of the economy, including many businesses that had stopped operating due to the pandemic. The survey asks 136 questions covering topics such as changes in business operations and employment, changes in financing patterns, and the interaction of household and business responsibilities. We characterize the adjustments implemented to survive the pandemic and explore the key challenges to continue operating or to re-open. We show how these patterns differ across industry, firm size, owner gender, and other firm characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Ströbel, Johannes & Alekseev, Georgij & Amer, Safaa & Gopal, Manasa & Kuchler, Theresa & Schneider, JW & Wernerfelt, Nils, 2020. "The Effects of COVID-19 on U.S. Small Businesses: Evidence from Owners, Managers, and Employees," CEPR Discussion Papers 15290, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:15290
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP15290
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Murillo Campello & Gaurav Kankanhalli & Pradeep Muthukrishnan, 2020. "Corporate Hiring under COVID-19: Labor Market Concentration, Downskilling, and Income Inequality," NBER Working Papers 27208, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Robert W. Fairlie, 2020. "The Impact of Covid-19 on Small Business Owners: The First Three Months after Social-Distancing Restrictions," CESifo Working Paper Series 8581, CESifo.
    3. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August.
    4. Natalie Cox & Peter Ganong & Pascal Noel & Joseph Vavra & Arlene Wong & Diana Farrell & Fiona Greig & Erica Deadman, 2020. "Initial Impacts of the Pandemic on Consumer Behavior: Evidence from Linked Income, Spending, and Savings Data," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(2 (Summer), pages 35-82.
    5. Michael Bailey & Eduardo Dávila & Theresa Kuchler & Johannes Stroebel, 2019. "House Price Beliefs And Mortgage Leverage Choice," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(6), pages 2403-2452.
    6. Oliver Rehbein & Simon Rother, 2020. "The Role of Social Networks in Bank Lending," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 033, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    7. Stefano Giglio & Matteo Maggiori & Johannes Stroebel & Stephen Utkus, 2020. "Inside the Mind of a Stock Market Crash," CESifo Working Paper Series 8334, CESifo.
    8. Balleer, Almut & Link, Sebastian & Menkhoff, Manuel & Zorn, Peter, 2020. "Demand or Supply? Price Adjustment during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 13568, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Veronica Guerrieri & Guido Lorenzoni & Ludwig Straub & Iván Werning, 2022. "Macroeconomic Implications of COVID-19: Can Negative Supply Shocks Cause Demand Shortages?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(5), pages 1437-1474, May.
    10. Dylan Balla‐Elliott & Zoë B. Cullen & Edward L. Glaeser & Michael Luca & Christopher Stanton, 2022. "Determinants Of Small Business Reopening Decisions After Covid Restrictions Were Lifted," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 278-317, January.
    11. Bailey, Michael & Gupta, Abhinav & Hillenbrand, Sebastian & Kuchler, Theresa & Richmond, Robert & Stroebel, Johannes, 2021. "International trade and social connectedness," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    12. Oliver Rehbein & Simon Rother, 2020. "The Role of Social Networks in Bank Lending," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_162v2, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    13. David Baqaee & Emmanuel Farhi, 2022. "Supply and Demand in Disaggregated Keynesian Economies with an Application to the COVID-19 Crisis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(5), pages 1397-1436, May.
    14. 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.
    15. Robert Fairlie, 2020. "The impact of COVID‐19 on small business owners: Evidence from the first three months after widespread social‐distancing restrictions," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 727-740, October.
    16. Oliver Rehbein & Simon Rother, 2020. "Distance in Bank Lending: The Role of Social Networks," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_162v1, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    17. Turan G. Bali & David Hirshleifer & Lin Peng & Yi Tang & Qiguang Wang, 2021. "Social Interactions and Lottery Stock Mania," NBER Working Papers 29543, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Michael Bailey & Ruiqing Cao & Theresa Kuchler & Johannes Stroebel, 2018. "The Economic Effects of Social Networks: Evidence from the Housing Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(6), pages 2224-2276.
    19. Oliver Rehbein & Simon Rother, 2020. "Distance in Bank Lending: The Role of Social Networks," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_162, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    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. Bailey, Michael & Gupta, Abhinav & Hillenbrand, Sebastian & Kuchler, Theresa & Richmond, Robert & Stroebel, Johannes, 2021. "International trade and social connectedness," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Nguyen, Giang & Nguyen, My & Pham, Anh Viet & Pham, Man Duy (Marty), 2023. "Navigating investment decisions with social connectedness: Implications for venture capital," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Abel Brodeur & David Gray & Anik Islam & Suraiya Bhuiyan, 2021. "A literature review of the economics of COVID‐19," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1007-1044, September.
    4. Theresa Kuchler & Yan Li & Lin Peng & Johannes Stroebel & Dexin Zhou, 2022. "Social Proximity to Capital: Implications for Investors and Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(6), pages 2743-2789.
    5. Michael Bailey & Drew Johnston & Martin Koenen & Theresa Kuchler & Dominic Russel & Johannes Stroebel, 2022. "The Social Integration of International Migrants: Evidence from the Networks of Syrians in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 9680, CESifo.
    6. Makridis, Christos A., 2022. "The social transmission of economic sentiment on consumption," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    7. Reint Gropp & Steven Ongena & Jörg Rocholl & Vahid Saadi, 2022. "The cleansing effect of banking crises," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1186-1213, July.
    8. Michael Bailey & Drew Johnston & Martin Koenen & Theresa Kuchler & Dominic Russel & Johannes Stroebel, 2024. "Social Networks Shape Beliefs and Behavior: Evidence from Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(3), pages 463-494.
    9. Ströbel, Johannes & Bailey, Michael & Johnston, Drew & Koenen, Martin & Kuchler, Theresa & Russel, Dominic, 2020. "Social Distancing During a Pandemic - The Role of Friends," CEPR Discussion Papers 15593, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Andersen, Angela & Garel, Alexandre & Gilbert, Aaron & Tourani-Rad, Alireza, 2022. "Social capital, human capital, and board appointments," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Kariya, Ankitkumar & Shekhawat, Chhavi, 2024. "Distance lending & social connectedness," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    12. Abakah, Alex Annan & Kim, Gunchang & Somé, Hyacinthe Yirlier, 2024. "Social networks and start-up funding," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    13. Barth, James R. & Hu, Qinyou & Sickles, Robin & Sun, Yanfei & Yu, Xiaoyu, 2024. "Direct and indirect impacts of natural disasters on banks: A spatial framework," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    14. Daiji Kawaguchi & Sagiri Kitao & Manabu Nose, 2022. "The impact of COVID-19 on Japanese firms: mobility and resilience via remote work," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(6), pages 1419-1449, December.
    15. Silvia Muzi & Filip Jolevski & Kohei Ueda & Domenico Viganola, 2023. "Productivity and firm exit during the COVID-19 crisis: cross-country evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1719-1760, April.
    16. Giang Nguyen & My Nguyen & Anh Viet Pham & Man Duy Marty Pham, 2023. "Navigating investment decisions with social connectedness : Implications for venture capital," Post-Print hal-04325756, HAL.
    17. Santiago Carbo-Valverde & Héctor Pérez Saiz & Hongyu Xiao, 2023. "Geographical and Cultural Proximity in Retail Banking," Staff Working Papers 23-2, Bank of Canada.
    18. Marco Bottone & Cristina Conflitti & Marianna Riggi & Alex Tagliabracci, 2021. "Firms' inflation expectations and pricing strategies during Covid-19," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 619, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    19. Kuchler, Theresa & Russel, Dominic & Stroebel, Johannes, 2022. "JUE Insight: The geographic spread of COVID-19 correlates with the structure of social networks as measured by Facebook," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    20. Diemer, Andreas & Regan, Tanner, 2022. "No inventor is an island: Social connectedness and the geography of knowledge flows in the US," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Small businesses; Covid-19; Working from home; Small business finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cpr:ceprdp:15290. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.