Small and Medium Enterprises Amidst the Pandemic and Reopening: Digital Edge and Transformation

Lin Cong, Xiaohan Yang () and Xiaobo Zhang
Additional contact information
Xiaohan Yang: Peking University National School of Development

No 599, Working Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: Using administrative universal firm registration data as well as primary offline and online surveys of small business owners in China, we examine (i) whether the digitization of business operations helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) better cope with the pandemic shock, and (ii) if the pandemic has induced digital technology adoption. We identify significant economic benefits of digitization in increasing SMEs’ resilience against such a large shock, as seen through mitigated demand decline, sustainable cash flow, ability to quickly reopen, and positive outlook for growth. After the lockdown in January 2020, firm entries have exhibited a V-shaped pattern, with entries of e-commerce firms experiencing a less pronounced initial drop and a quicker rebound. The COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated digital technology adoption of existing firms in various dimensions (captured by, e.g., the alteration of operation scope to include e-commerce activities, allowing remote work, and adoption of electronic information system), and the effect persists after one year of full reopening.

Keywords: SMEs; COVID-19; Digital economy; E-commerce (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2021-12-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cna, nep-ent, nep-pay, nep-sbm and nep-tra
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cgdev.org/publication/small-and-medium ... l&utm_campaign=repec

Related works:
Journal Article: Small and Medium Enterprises Amidst the Pandemic and Reopening: Digital Edge and Transformation (2024)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cgd:wpaper:599

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Center for Global Development Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Publications Manager ().