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The Effects of COVID-19 on U.S. Small Businesses: Evidence from Owners, Managers, and Employees

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  • Georgij Alekseev
  • Safaa Amer
  • Manasa Gopal
  • Theresa Kuchler
  • JW Schneider
  • Johannes Stroebel
  • Nils C. Wernerfelt

Abstract

We analyze a large-scale survey of owners, managers, and employees of small businesses in the United States to understand the effects of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic on those businesses. The survey was fielded in late April 2020 among Facebook business page administrators, frequent sellers on Facebook's e-commerce platform Marketplace, and the general Facebook user population. We observe more than 66,000 responses covering most sectors of the economy, including many businesses that had stopped operating due to the pandemic. The survey asks 136 questions covering topics such as changes in business operations and employment, changes in financing patterns, and the interaction of household and business responsibilities. We characterize the adjustments implemented to survive the pandemic and explore the key challenges to continue operating or to re-open. We show how these patterns differ across industry, firm size, owner gender, and other firm characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Georgij Alekseev & Safaa Amer & Manasa Gopal & Theresa Kuchler & JW Schneider & Johannes Stroebel & Nils C. Wernerfelt, 2020. "The Effects of COVID-19 on U.S. Small Businesses: Evidence from Owners, Managers, and Employees," NBER Working Papers 27833, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27833
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    Cited by:

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    2. Shun-Yang Lee & Julian Runge & Daniel Yoo & Yakov Bart & Anett Gyurak & J. W. Schneider, 2023. "COVID-19 Demand Shocks Revisited: Did Advertising Technology Help Mitigate Adverse Consequences for Small and Midsize Businesses?," Papers 2307.09035, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2024.
    3. Nicholas Bloom & Robert S. Fletcher & Ethan Yeh, 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on US Firms," NBER Working Papers 28314, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Zheng, Yi & Ren, He, 2024. "COVID-19 vaccination and housing payments," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Nicholas Bloom & Philip Bunn & Paul Mizen & Pawel Smietanka & Gregory Thwaites, 2025. "The Impact of Covid-19 on Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 107(1), pages 28-41, January.
    6. He, Huan & Ye, Yuxiao & Huo, Baofeng, 2024. "Can employee training facilitate production repurposing in crises? An ability-motivation-opportunity perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    7. Sabrina T. Howell & Theresa Kuchler & David Snitkof & Johannes Stroebel & Jun Wong, 2021. "Racial Disparities in Access to Small Business Credit: Evidence from the Paycheck Protection Program," CESifo Working Paper Series 9345, CESifo.
    8. Branzoli, Nicola & Rainone, Edoardo & Supino, Ilaria, 2024. "The role of banks’ technology adoption in credit markets during the pandemic," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    9. Daiji Kawaguchi & Sagiri Kitao & Manabu Nose, 2022. "The impact of COVID-19 on Japanese firms: mobility and resilience via remote work," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(6), pages 1419-1449, December.
    10. Meyer, Brent H. & Prescott, Brian C. & Sheng, Xuguang Simon, 2023. "The impact of supply chain disruptions on business expectations during the pandemic," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    11. Le, Minh-Phuong & Chauvet, Lisa & Marouani, Mohamed Ali, 2024. "The Great Lockdown and the Small Business: Impact, Channels and Adaptation to the Covid Pandemic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    12. Ali Riahi Samani & Reza Riahisamani & Sabyasachee Mishra & Mihalis M Golias & David Jung-Hwi Lee, 2024. "Evaluating relocation behavior of establishments: Evidence for the short-term effects of COVID-19," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 51(9), pages 2012-2030, November.
    13. Liu, Yu & Wei, Siqi & Xu, Jian, 2021. "COVID-19 and Women-Led Businesses around the World," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    14. Zofia Gródek-Szostak & Jadwiga Adamczyk & Małgorzata Luc & Marcin Suder & Justyna Tora & Karolina Kotulewicz-Wisińska & Wojciech Zysk & Anna Szeląg-Sikora, 2022. "Hard Cash in Hard Times—The Effect of Institutional Support for Businesses Shaken by COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    15. Catherine Buffington & Daniel Chapman & Emin Dinlersoz & Lucia Foster & James Hunt & Shawn Klimek, 2021. "Small Business Pulse Survey Estimates by Owner Characteristics and Rural/Urban Designation," Working Papers 21-24, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    16. Barry, John W. & Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Ma, Yueran, 2022. "Corporate flexibility in a time of crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 780-806.
    17. Chen, Zhuo & Li, Pengfei & Liao, Li & Liu, Lu & Wang, Zhengwei, 2024. "Assessing and addressing the coronavirus-induced economic crisis: Evidence from 1.5 billion sales invoices," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    18. Cong, Lin William & Yang, Xiaohan & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2021. "SMEs Amidst the Pandemic and Reopening: Digital Edge and Transformation," Applied Economics and Policy Working Paper Series 317045, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    19. Mark Partridge & Seung‐hun Chung & Sydney Schreiner Wertz, 2022. "Lessons from the 2020 Covid recession for understanding regional resilience," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 1006-1031, September.
    20. Mo, Bin & Nie, He & Zhao, Rongjie, 2024. "Dynamic nonlinear effects of geopolitical risks on commodities: Fresh evidence from quantile methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    21. Bojan Obrenovic & Goran Oblakovic & Asa Romeo Asa, 2024. "Bibliometric Analysis of Financial and Economic Implications during the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-17, March.
    22. Michael D. Noel, 2022. "Competitive survival in a devastated industry: Evidence from hotels during COVID‐19," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 3-24, February.
    23. M. Suguna & Bhavin Shah & B. U. Sivakami & M. Suresh, 2022. "Factors affecting repurposing operations in Micro Small and Medium Enterprises during Covid-19 emergency," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 1181-1197, December.
    24. Zhou, Ye & Huang, Difang & Chen, Muzi & Wang, Yunlong & Yang, Xiaoguang, 2024. "How did small business respond to unexpected shocks? Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • G0 - Financial Economics - - General
    • M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration

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