Crisis Mitigation Strategies and the Role of Government Help: Evidence From Firm-Level COVID-19 Surveys

This study investigates the actions taken by Polish and Albanian firms to mitigate crisis consequences and the role of government help in the strategy implementation for employment, liquidity, and changes in business activity using the first wave of COVID-19 focused Enterprise Surveys conducted by the World Bank in 2020. Results suggest that government help, both received and expected, affects the decision of implementing a strategy only for Polish firms. More specifically, government help appears to increase the probability of Polish firms implementing all four crisis mitigation strategies: laying off workers, increase of remote work, business online activity increase, and covered liquidity shortages.