Micro-entrepreneurs’ financial and digital competences during the pandemic in Italy

Alessio D'Ignazio (), Paolo Finaldi Russo () and Massimiliano Stacchini ()
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Alessio D'Ignazio: Bank of Italy
Paolo Finaldi Russo: Bank of Italy
Massimiliano Stacchini: Bank of Italy

No 724, Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: We analyse new survey data from a representative sample of about 2,000 Italian micro-entrepreneurs to assess their level of financial and digital competences and to investigate whether these skills help them cope with unexpected shocks. We find that the financial literacy and digital skills of Italian micro-entrepreneurs are quite limited, especially for one-person businesses and owners with a lower level of education. By controlling for several business characteristics, we also find that financial literacy is significantly correlated with the transition to more digitalized business models and with greater resilience to external shocks: financially savvy entrepreneurs were better able to build liquidity buffers prior to the COVID-19 crisis and access government aid during the pandemic. As for the role of digital skills in supporting businesses during the crisis, empirical evidence is less clear-cut.

Keywords: financial literacy; digitalization; micro-firms; Covid 19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban, nep-cfn, nep-ent, nep-fle, nep-pay and nep-sbm
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_724_22

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