Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected not only incumbent firms, but also the emergence of start-ups. This paper investigates and analyzes the pandemic’s effect on new business formation, as well as business exits and insolvencies, in Germany. We find that the overall level of business registrations slightly decreased during the first year of the pandemic, but that the effect is specific to certain industries. Innovative manufacturing industries and technology-oriented services experienced an increase in the numbers of start-ups. High subsidies and a temporary suspension of important criteria obliging firms to declare insolvency weakened market selection resulting in fewer exits in 2020. The relaxation of insolvency regulations may lead to considerable numbers of ‘zombie’ firms. Generally, the pandemic re-enforced ongoing structural change, but also exerted specific effects that may be temporary in nature.
References
Apostolopoulos N., Liargovas P., Sklias P., Apostolopoulos S. (2021) Healthcare enterprises and public policies on COVID-19: Insights from the Greek rural areas. Strategic Change, 30(2), 127-136.
Assudani R., Mroczkowski T., Muñoz-Fernández A., Khilji S.E. (2017) Entrepreneurial support systems: Role of the Czech accelerator. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 21(6), 530-552.
Audretsch D.B., Falck O., Feldman M.P., Heblich S. (2012) Local entrepreneurship in context. Regional Studies, 46(3), 379-389.
Bailey D., Clark J., Colombelli A., Corradini C., De Propris L., Derudder B., Fratesi U., Fritsch M., Harrison J., Hatfield M., Kemeny T., Kogler D.F., Lagendijk A., Lawton P., Ortega-Argilés R., Iglesias-Otero C., Usai S. (2020) Regions in a time of pandemic. Regional Studies, 54, 1163-1174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2020.1798611
Baštová M., Hubáčková V., Frantál B. (2011) Interregional differences in the Czech Republic, 2000-2008. Moravian Geographical Reports, 19(1), 2-16.
Belghitar Y., Moro A., Radić N. (2021) When the rainy day is the worst hurricane ever: The effects of governmental policies on SMEs during COVID-19. Small Business Economics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-021-00510-8
Bersch J., Gottschalk S. (2021) Gründungsgeschehen 2020 in Deutschland vor dem Hintergrund der Corona-Pandemie. Junge Unternehmen, 10, 1-6, Mannheim: Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW). http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/jungeunternehmen/jungeunternehmen_0821.pdf?v=1629293695, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Betzler D., Loots E., Prokůpek M., Marques L., Grafenauer P. (2020) COVID-19 and the arts and cultural sectors: investigating countries' contextual factors and early policy measures. International Journal of Cultural Policy (forthcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2020.1842383
Birkholz J., Guenther J., Shkolnykova M. (2021) Using Topic Modeling in Innovation Studies: The Case of a Small Innovation System under Conditions of Pandemic Related Change (Working Paper 2101), Bremen: Institute for Economic Research and Policy (IERP). DOI: https://doi.org/10.26092/ELIB/451
Brown R., Rocha A., Cowling M. (2020) Financing entrepreneurship in times of crisis: Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the market for entrepreneurial finance in the United Kingdom. International Small Business Journal, 38(5), 380-390.
Buchheim L., Krolage C., Link S. (2020) Sudden stop: When did firms anticipate the potential consequences of COVID-19? (Working Paper 13253), Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). https://www.cesifo.org/en/publikationen/2020/working-paper/sudden-stop-when-did-firms-anticipate-potential-consequences-COVID, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Congregado E. (ed.) (2007) Measuring Entrepreneurship: Building a Statistical System, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, London, New York: Springer.
Core F., De Marco F. (2021) Public Guarantees for Small Businesses in Italy during COVID-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3604114
Croteau M., Grant K.A., Rojas C., Abdelhamid H. (2021) The lost generation of entrepreneurs? The impact of COVID-19 on the availability of risk capital in Canada. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies (forthcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-07-2020-0273
Dahlke J., Bogner K., Becker M., Schlaile M.P., Pyka A., Ebersberger B. (2021) Crisis-driven innovation and fundamental human needs: A typological framework of rapid-response COVID-19 innovations. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 169, 120799. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120799
DeTienne D.R., McKelvie A., Chandler G.N. (2015) Making sense of entrepreneurial exit strategies: A typology and test. Journal of Business Venturing, 30(2), 255-272. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2014.07.007
Demary M. (2021) Will COVID-19 cause insolvencies, zombification or debt deleveraging? (IW-Kurzberichte 3/2021), Koeln: Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW), German Economic Institute. https://www.iwkoeln.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Studien/Kurzberichte/PDF/2021/IW-Kurzbericht_2021-Zombification.pdf, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Demirdag İ., Eraydin A. (2021) Explaining regional differences in firm formation rates: how far are government policies important for entrepreneurship? Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 13(2), 254-281.
Dinlersoz E., Dunne T., Haltiwanger J., Penciakova V. (2021) Business Formation: A Tale of Two Recessions. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 111, 253-257. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20211055
Djankov S., Zhang E. (2020) Startups boom in the United States during COVID-19. Washington, D.C.: Peterson Institute for International Economics. https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economic-issues-watch/startups-boom-united-states-during-covid-19, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Doern R., Williams N., Vorley T. (2019) Special issue on entrepreneurship and crises: business as usual? An introduction and review of the literature. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 31(5-6), 400-412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2018.1541590
Dvorak J., Komarkova L., Stehlik L. (2021) The effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the perception of digitization in the purchasing process: Customers and retailers perspective. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies (forthcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-07-2020-0260
Dvouletý O. (2017) Can Policy Makers Count with Positive Impact of Entrepreneurship on Economic Development of the Czech Regions? Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 9(3), 286-299.
Dvouletý O. (2018) How to analyse determinants of entrepreneurship and self-employment at the country level? A methodological contribution. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 9, 92-99.
Dvouletý O. (2019) Development of entrepreneurial activity in the Czech Republic over the years 2005-2017. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 5(3), 38.
Dvouletý O., Blažková I., Potluka O. (2021a) Estimating the Effects of Public Subsidies on the Performance of Supported Enterprises across Firm Sizes. Research Evaluation (forthcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvab004
Dvouletý O., Fernandez de Arroyabe J.C., Mustafa M. (2021b) Guest Editorial: Entrepreneurship during the times of COVID-19 pandemic: challenges and consequences. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 13(4), 489-496.
Dörr J., Licht G., Murmann S. (2021a) Small Firms and the COVID-19 Insolvency Gap. Small Business Economics (forthcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-021-00514-4
Dörr J., Murmann S., Licht G. (2021b) Corporate Insolvencies in Times of COVID-19 (ZEW expert brief 21-04), Mannheim: Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW). https://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/ZEWKurzexpertisen/EN/ZEW_Shortreport2104.pdf, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Ebersberger B., Kuckertz A. (2021) Hop to it! The impact of organization type on innovation response time to the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Business Research, 124, 126-135. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.051
Freytag A., Thurik R. (2007) Entrepreneurship and its determinants in a cross-country setting. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 17(2), 117-131.
Fritsch M., Falck O. (2007) New business formation by industry over space and time: A multidimensional analysis. Regional Studies, 41(2), 157-172.
Fritsch M., Wyrwich M. (2020) Initial Conditions and Regional Performance in the Aftermath of Disruptive Shocks: The Case of East Germany after Socialism (Jena Economic Research Paper 2020-017), Jena: Friedrich Schiller University Jena. https://ideas.repec.org/p/jrp/jrpwrp/2020-017.html, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Fritsch M., Wyrwich M. (2021) Does Successful Innovation Require Large Urban Areas? Germany as a Counterexample. Economic Geography (forthcoming). , дата обращения 16.06.2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00130095.2021.1920391
Gourinchas P.-O., Kalemli-Özcan S., Penciakova V., Sander N. (2021) COVID-19 and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A 2021 Time Bomb? American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 111, 282-286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20211109
Gropp R.E., Koetter M., McShane W. (2020) The Corona Recession and Bank Stress in Germany (IWH Policy Notes, 4/2020). Halle (Saale): IWH-Halle. https://www.iwh-halle.de/fileadmin/user_upload/publications/iwh_online/io_2020-04.pdf, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Gropp R.E., McShane W. (2021) Why Are Households Saving so much During the Corona Recession? (IWH Policy Notes, 1/2021), Halle (Saale): IWH-Halle. https://www.iwh-halle.de/publikationen/detail/why-are-households-saving-so-much-during-the-corona-recession/, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Hamplová E., Bal-Domańska B., Provazníková K. (2021) Business activity and its Concentration in the Czech Republic and Poland in the years 2018-2020. In: Hradec Economic Days (eds. J. Maci, P. Maresova, K. Firlej, I. Soukal), Hradec Králové: University of Hradec Králové, pp. 217-224.
Hedvičáková M., Kozubíková Z. (2021) Impacts of COVID-19 on the Labour Market - Evidence from the Czech Republic. In: Hradec Economic Days (eds. J. Maci, P. Maresova, K. Firlej, I. Soukal), Hradec Králové: University of Hradec Králové, pp. 232-241.
Holtemöller O. (2021) Unternehmensinsolvenzen in Deutschland im Zuge der Corona-Krise. Wirtschaft im Wandel, 27(1), 5-11. https://www.iwh-halle.de/fileadmin/user_upload/publications/wirtschaft_im_wandel/wiwa_2021-01_insolvenzprognose-corona.pdf, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Holtemöller O., Muradoglu Y. (2020) Corona Shutdown and Bankruptcy Risk (IWH Policy Notes, 3/2020). Halle (Saale): IWH-Halle. https://www.iwh-halle.de/fileadmin/user_upload/publications/iwh_online/io_2020-03.pdf, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Hundt C., Sternberg R. (2014) How Did the Economic Crisis Influence New Firm Creation? A Multilevel Approach Based Upon Data from German Regions. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 234, 722-756. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2014-0605
Iversen J., Jørgensen R., Malchow-Møller N. (2007) Defining and measuring entrepreneurship. Foundations and Trends® in Entrepreneurship, 4(1), 1-63.
Jašová E., Kadeřábková B., Čermáková K. (2017) Use of the method of the stochastic trend for NAIRU estimation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at the macro-and meso-levels. Economic Research -Ekonomska Istraživanja, 30(1), 256-272.
Kalemli-Ozcan S., Sorenson B., Villegas-Sanchez C., Volosovych V., Yesiltas S. (2015) How to construct nationally Representative Firm Level Data from the Orbis Global Database (NBER Working Paper 21558), Cambridge, MA: NBER. http://www.nber.org/papers/w21558.pdf, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Kibler E., Kautonen T., Fink M. (2014) Regional Social Legitimacy of Entrepreneurship: Implications for Entrepreneurial Intention and Start-up Behaviour. Regional Studies, 48(6), 995-1015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2013.851373
Klapper L., Love I. (2011) The impact of the financial crisis on new firm registration. Economics Letters, 113(1), 1-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2011.05.048
Konon A., Fritsch M., Kritikos A. (2018) Business Cycles and Start-ups across Industries: An Empirical Analysis for Germany. Journal of Business Venturing, 33, 742-761. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.04.006
Korsgaard S., Hunt R., Townsend D.M., Ingstrup M.B. (2020) COVID-19 and the importance of space in entrepreneurship research and policy. International Small Business Journal, 38, 697-710. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242620963942
Kuckertz A., Brändle L. (2021) Creative reconstruction - A structured literature review of the early empirical research on the COVID-19 crisis and entrepreneurship. Management Review Quarterly, 71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-021-00221-0
Kuckertz A., Brändle L., Gaudig A., Hinderer S., Morales A., Prochotta A., Steinbrink K., Berger E.S. (2020) Startups in Times of Crisis - A Rapid Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 13, e00169.
Li R., Dong Y., Zhu Z., Li C., Yang H. (2019) A dynamic evaluation framework for ambient air pollution monitoring. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 65, 52-71.
Loan L.T., Doanh D.C., Thang H.N., Viet Nga N.T., Van P.T., Hoa P.T. (2021) Entrepreneurial behaviour: The effects of fear and anxiety of Covid-19 and business opportunity recognition. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(3), 7-23.
Muñoz P., Kimmitt J. (2019) Rural entrepreneurship in place: An integrated framework. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 31(9-10), 842-873.
Müller S. (2021) Insolvenzen in der Corona-Krise (IWH Policy Notes, 2/2021), Halle (Saale): IWH-Halle. https://www.iwh-halle.de/fileadmin/user_upload/publications/iwh_policy_notes/iwh-pn_2021-02_de_Insolvenzen.pdf, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Nakara W.A., Laouiti R., Chavez R., Gharbi S. (2020) An economic view of entrepreneurial intention. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 26(8), 1807-1826.
Neumann T. (2020) The impact of entrepreneurship on economic, social and environmental welfare and its determinants: A systematic review. Management Review Quarterly, 71, 553-584.
Novotný L., Pellešová P. (2021) Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Regulation to Tourism in the Czech Republic. Central European Public Administration Review, 19(1), 199-222.
OECD (2021) OECD Economic Outlook, 2021(1), Paris: OECD. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/edfbca02-en
Pedauga L., Sáez F., Delgado-Márquez B.L. (2021) Macroeconomic lockdown and SMEs: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Small Business Economics (forthcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-021-00476-7
Pelucha M., Kveton V., Potluka O. (2019) Using mixed method approach in measuring effects of training in firms: Case study of the European Social Fund support. Evaluation and Program Planning, 73, 146-155.
Petkovski M., Kjosevski J., Jovanovski K. (2018) Empirical Panel Analysis of Non-Performing Loans in the Czech Republic. What are their Determinants and How Strong is Their Impact on the Real Economy? Finance a Uver, 68(5), 460-490.
Rashid S., Ratten V. (2021) Entrepreneurial ecosystems during COVID-19: The survival of small businesses using dynamic capabilities. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development (forthcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/WJEMSD-09-2020-0110
Ratinger T., Čadil V., Agyemang S.A. (2020) Are there any economic impacts of business R&D support? The case of the Czech Republic. Central European Business Review, 9(5), 45-62.
Ratten V. (2020) Coronavirus (covid-19) and entrepreneurship: Changing life and work landscape. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 32(5), 503-516.
Santos S.C., Caetano A., Spagnoli P., Costa S.F., Neumeyer X. (2017) Predictors of entrepreneurial activity before and during the European economic crisis. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 13(4), 1263-1288.
Stenholm P., Acs Z.J., Wuebker R. (2013) Exploring country-level institutional arrangements on the rate and type of entrepreneurial activity. Journal of Business Venturing, 28(1), 176-193.
Storr V.H., Haeffele S., Lofthouse J.K., Grube L.E. (2021) Essential or not? Knowledge problems and COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Southern Economic Journal, 87(4), 1229-1249.
Torrès O., Benzari A., Fisch C., Mukerjee J., Swalhi A., Thurik R. (2021) Risk of burnout in French entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 crisis. Small Business Economics (forethcoming). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-021-00516-2
Urbano D., Aparicio S., Audretsch D. (2019) Twenty-five years of research on institutions, entrepreneurship, and economic growth: What has been learned? Small Business Economics, 53(1), 21-49.
Verbeek M. (2008) A guide to modern econometrics, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Wollmershäuser T., Göttert M., Grimme C., Lautenbacher S., Lehmann R., Link S., Möhrle S., Rathje A., Reif M., Sandqvist P., Šauer R., Stöckli M. (2021) ifo Konjunkturprognose Frühjahr 2021: Deutsche Wirtschaft taumelt in die dritte Coronawelle (ifo Schnelldienst digital, 9), München: ifo Institut. https://www.ifo.de/publikationen/2021/aufsatz-zeitschrift/ifo-konjunkturprognose-fruehjahr-2021-deutsche-wirtschaft, дата обращения 16.06.2021.
Čadil J., Mirošník K., Rehák J. (2017) The lack of short-term impact of cohesion policy on the competitiveness of SMEs. International Small Business Journal, 35(8), 991-1009.
Żak M., Garncarz J. (2020) Economic policy towards the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in selected European Union countries. International Entrepreneurship Review, 6(4), 21-34

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.