Reaction of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to the Corona Crisis: the Impact of Regional Authorities

IF 0.5 Q3 AREA STUDIES
L. Ruzhanskaya, N. G. Fonova, E. Yakimova
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Abstract

The decline in Russian business activity due to the Covid restrictions was much lower than forecasted by international financial institutions. Even the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector, which experienced a significant downturn, in 2021 demonstrated a recovery and intentions to conduct business. The present study aims to reveal the impact of regional authorities on the activity of small and medium-sized enterprises during the crisis, coupled with the entrepreneurs’ own efforts and economic freedom in the region. To this end, a case study of Sverdlovsk oblast, a large Russian region with a diversified industrial structure and a developed SME sector, was analysed. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were utilised in the case study. Qualitative methods include semi-structured interviews with CEOs aimed at identifying deep motives of activity and diversity of business responses to external challenges. As for quantitative methods, the economic freedom index of the region for 2002-2020 was calculated using the Coates method, the relationship between entrepreneurial activity in Sverdlovsk oblast and government intervention in the regional economy was assessed based on the ordinary least squares regression. The study demonstrated that the number of individual entrepreneurs depends on the government participation in the regional economy, while the activity of legal entities is more related to economic freedom. During the crisis, demand reduction and change, real income decline, restrictions on cross-border transactions and a growing concentration of market power accelerated changes in companies’ business models in terms of interaction with consumers, value proposition, networking and digitalisation of business. Additionally, business associations involved in the interaction between companies and public authorities gained importance in this period. The research results can be applied in the design of public policy measures for the small and medium-sized enterprises and regional development.
中小企业对冠状病毒危机的反应:地区当局的影响
新冠肺炎限制措施导致的俄罗斯商业活动下降幅度远低于国际金融机构的预测。即使是经历了严重衰退的中小企业(SME)部门,在2021年也表现出了复苏和开展业务的意愿。本研究旨在揭示危机期间地区当局对中小企业活动的影响,以及企业家自身的努力和该地区的经济自由。为此目的,对斯维尔德洛夫斯克州的一个案例进行了分析,斯维尔德洛夫斯克州是俄罗斯一个拥有多样化工业结构和发达中小企业部门的大地区。案例研究中采用了定性和定量研究方法。定性方法包括与首席执行官进行半结构化访谈,旨在确定活动的深层动机和企业对外部挑战的反应的多样性。在定量方法上,采用Coates方法计算了2002-2020年该地区的经济自由指数,并基于普通最小二乘回归评估了斯维尔德洛夫斯克州的创业活动与政府对区域经济的干预之间的关系。研究表明,个体企业家的数量取决于政府对区域经济的参与程度,而法人实体的活动与经济自由度的关系更大。在危机期间,需求减少和变化、实际收入下降、对跨境交易的限制以及市场力量日益集中,加速了企业在与消费者互动、价值主张、业务网络化和数字化方面的商业模式变化。此外,参与公司与公共当局之间互动的商业协会在这一时期变得重要起来。研究结果可用于中小企业和区域发展的公共政策措施设计。
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
CiteScore
1.80
自引率
20.00%
发文量
23
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