Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Profitability of Firms in India*

IF 0.9 Q3 ECONOMICS

Economic Papers Pub Date : 2023-01-16 DOI:10.1111/1759-3441.12377

Ritika Jain, Rajnish Kumar

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

We examine the effect of COVID-19-induced lockdown on the profitability of listed firms in India. We use quarterly income statement of 4168 listed firms for the period between April–June 2020 quarter and April–June 2022 quarter and compare their financial data with previous quarters (2015–2019). Using a difference-in-difference estimation framework and various profitability measures, we find that the COVID-19 lockdown has reduced profits by around 15 per cent for listed firms in India. Our results are robust to various robustness tests and alternate specifications. We find evidence of firms losing revenues more than expenses, thus leading to decline in profits. The main effect is conditioned by firm-specific factors. Specifically, firms that are smaller, older, unlisted and that do not belong to any group witnessed larger decline in profitability due to lockdown. Additionally, the effect of lockdown is more pronounced in areas that had lower mobility and higher COVID-19 spread. These results underscore the importance of institutional factors and pre-existing firm characteristics in conditioning the impact of lockdown on firm profitability.

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新冠肺炎封锁对印度企业盈利能力的影响*

我们研究了新冠疫情引发的封锁对印度上市公司盈利能力的影响。我们使用了4168家上市公司2020年4-6月至2022年4-6月季度的季度利润表，并将其财务数据与前几个季度（2015-2019）进行了比较。使用差异估计框架和各种盈利指标，我们发现新冠肺炎封锁使印度上市公司的利润减少了约15%。我们的结果对各种稳健性测试和替代规范都是稳健的。我们发现有证据表明，公司的收入损失大于支出，从而导致利润下降。主要影响是由企业特定因素决定的。具体而言，由于封锁，规模较小、年龄较大、未上市且不属于任何集团的公司的盈利能力下降幅度更大。此外，封锁的影响在流动性较低、新冠肺炎传播率较高的地区更为明显。这些结果强调了制度因素和预先存在的企业特征在调节封锁对企业盈利能力的影响方面的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Economic Papers ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

2.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Economic Papers is one of two journals published by the Economics Society of Australia. The journal features a balance of high quality research in applied economics and economic policy analysis which distinguishes it from other Australian journals. The intended audience is the broad range of economists working in business, government and academic communities within Australia and internationally who are interested in economic issues related to Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Contributions are sought from economists working in these areas and should be written to be accessible to a wide section of our readership. All contributions are refereed.