Muzi Silvia, Jolevski Filip, Ueda Kohei, Viganola Domenico
World Bank Group, Washington, DC USA.
Small Bus Econ (Dordr). 2023;60(4):1719-1760. doi: 10.1007/s11187-022-00675-w. Epub 2022 Aug 26.
This paper examines whether the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic exhibits a Schumpeterian "cleansing" of less productive firms. Using firm-level data collected for 34 economies up to 18 months into the crisis, the study finds that less productive firms have a higher probability of permanently closing during the crisis, suggesting that the process of cleansing out unproductive activities is occurring. The paper also uncovers strong and negative relationships of firm exit with digital presence and with innovation. These relationships are driven by small firms. The study further finds that a burdensome business environment increases the probability of firm exit, also driven by small firms, and that a negative relationship exists between firm exit and age. Finally, evidence shows that the cleansing process is disrupted in countries which have introduced policies imposing a moratorium on insolvency procedures.
本文探讨了由新冠疫情引发的经济危机是否呈现出熊彼特式的对生产率较低企业的“清理”。该研究利用在危机爆发后长达18个月内为34个经济体收集的企业层面数据，发现生产率较低的企业在危机期间永久关闭的可能性更高，这表明清理非生产性活动的过程正在发生。本文还揭示了企业退出与数字化存在以及与创新之间强烈的负相关关系。这些关系由小企业驱动。该研究进一步发现，繁重的商业环境会增加企业退出的可能性，这同样由小企业驱动，并且企业退出与企业年龄之间存在负相关关系。最后，有证据表明，在那些出台了暂停破产程序政策的国家，清理过程受到了干扰。
