Damaged by the Disaster : The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia

To assess the impact of COVID-19 on firms, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation conducted Business Pulse Surveys in several countries, including six in the South Asia region. Analysis focusing on the South Asia region suggests t...

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Main Authors: Brucal, Arlan, Grover, Arti, Reyes Ortega, Santiago
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/559681617116428612/Damaged-by-the-Disaster-The-Impact-of-COVID-19-on-Firms-in-South-Asia
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35357
id okr-10986-35357
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-353572022-09-20T00:09:39Z Damaged by the Disaster : The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia Brucal, Arlan Grover, Arti Reyes Ortega, Santiago ENTERPRISE SURVEY COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IMPACT FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS DIGITAL ECONOMY RESILIENT RECOVERY BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAM PUBLIC SUPPORT To assess the impact of COVID-19 on firms, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation conducted Business Pulse Surveys in several countries, including six in the South Asia region. Analysis focusing on the South Asia region suggests that, first, firms in the South Asia region have suffered disproportionately more from the economic brunt of the pandemic. Second, even within the region, COVID-19 did not affect all firms equally. Although exporters remain resilient by some metrics, firms that are smaller, female-led firms and those in vulnerable sectors suffered higher rates of closure. Third, while digital technologies have taken the center stage post-pandemic, the South Asia region lags in the adoption of these technologies. Finally, policy support for firms is key to building back better and resilient recovery, yet only a small share of firms can access public support. To be effective, firm support programs ought to be carefully customized and target firms based on the dominant channel through which COVID-19 affects them rather than their external attributes. 2021-04-02T14:19:19Z 2021-04-02T14:19:19Z 2021-03 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/559681617116428612/Damaged-by-the-Disaster-The-Impact-of-COVID-19-on-Firms-in-South-Asia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35357 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9604 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper South Asia South Asia South Africa
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ENTERPRISE SURVEY
COVID-19
CORONAVIRUS
PANDEMIC IMPACT
FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS
DIGITAL ECONOMY
RESILIENT RECOVERY
BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAM
PUBLIC SUPPORT
spellingShingle ENTERPRISE SURVEY
COVID-19
CORONAVIRUS
PANDEMIC IMPACT
FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS
DIGITAL ECONOMY
RESILIENT RECOVERY
BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAM
PUBLIC SUPPORT
Brucal, Arlan
Grover, Arti
Reyes Ortega, Santiago
Damaged by the Disaster : The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia
geographic_facet South Asia
South Asia
South Africa
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9604
description To assess the impact of COVID-19 on firms, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation conducted Business Pulse Surveys in several countries, including six in the South Asia region. Analysis focusing on the South Asia region suggests that, first, firms in the South Asia region have suffered disproportionately more from the economic brunt of the pandemic. Second, even within the region, COVID-19 did not affect all firms equally. Although exporters remain resilient by some metrics, firms that are smaller, female-led firms and those in vulnerable sectors suffered higher rates of closure. Third, while digital technologies have taken the center stage post-pandemic, the South Asia region lags in the adoption of these technologies. Finally, policy support for firms is key to building back better and resilient recovery, yet only a small share of firms can access public support. To be effective, firm support programs ought to be carefully customized and target firms based on the dominant channel through which COVID-19 affects them rather than their external attributes.
format Working Paper
author Brucal, Arlan
Grover, Arti
Reyes Ortega, Santiago
author_facet Brucal, Arlan
Grover, Arti
Reyes Ortega, Santiago
author_sort Brucal, Arlan
title Damaged by the Disaster : The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia
title_short Damaged by the Disaster : The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia
title_full Damaged by the Disaster : The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia
title_fullStr Damaged by the Disaster : The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia
title_full_unstemmed Damaged by the Disaster : The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia
title_sort damaged by the disaster : the impact of covid-19 on firms in south asia
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/559681617116428612/Damaged-by-the-Disaster-The-Impact-of-COVID-19-on-Firms-in-South-Asia
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35357
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