Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15156
Authors: Nicholas Kozeniauskas; Pedro Moreira; Cezar Santos
Abstract: This paper investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected firms and which firms have benefited from government support. Using a panel survey of Portuguese firms conducted during the pandemic matched with pre-Covid administrative data, the results show that the shock was large, but heterogeneous across firms. Though most firms experienced declines in sales, high productivity firms were more likely to remain open, less likely to cut employment and made less use of government support.
Keywords: COVID-19; firms; productivity; policies
JEL Codes: E24; D22; H81
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| high productivity (O49) | less significant declines in sales (L81) |
| high productivity (O49) | less significant declines in employment (J69) |
| high productivity (O49) | more likely to remain open (F55) |
| high productivity (O49) | lower probability of utilizing government support policies (J68) |
| lower probability of utilizing government support policies (J68) | better resilience to economic shock (F69) |