Title page
Contents
Abstract/Resume 4
1. Introduction 6
2. Data and stylised facts 9
3. Empirical framework 15
4. Key results 17
4.1. How did smaller or younger firms do? 17
4.2. How did financially fragile firms do? 21
5. Conclusions 24
6. References 25
Annex A. Appendix 27
Table 1. Summary statistics (USD million unless otherwise indicated) 10
Table 2. The impact of firm size and age on performance 18
Table 3. The impact of firm financial characteristics on performance 22
Table 4. The impact of the 2019-2020 change in firm financial characteristics on performance 24
Figure 1. Country and sector coverage 9
Figure 2. Changes in key firm variables: 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 11
Figure 3. Annual change in revenues, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 12
Figure 4. Annual change in capital expenditure, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 13
Figure 5. Comparing selected firm variables in 2021 to their 2019 levels 14
Figure 6. Effect of firm size and age on revenues in subsamples 19
Figure 7. Effect of firm financial characteristics on revenues in subsamples 23
Annex Tables
Table A A.1. Countries in the sample 27
Table A A.2. Industries in the sample 28
Table A A.3. The impact of size on performance (baseline model) 29
Table A A.4. The impact of size and age on performance in tech and health care-related sectors vs others (baseline model) 30
Table A A.5. The impact of firm characteristics on performance 31
Table A A.6. The impact of firm characteristics on performance, including China 32
Table A A.7. The impact of the 2019-2020 change in firm financial characteristics on performance, including China 33
Annex Figures
Figure A A.1. Correlation between annual growth in nominal GDP and total revenue 33
Figure A A.2. Changes in key firm variables: 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 34
Figure A A.3. Annual change in EBITDA, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 35
Figure A A.4. Annual change in R&D expenditures, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 35
Figure A A.5. Annual change in capex and R&D expenditure 36
Figure A A.6. Effect of size on revenues - Sector-specific regressions 37
Figure A A.7. Effect of firm size and age on revenues in subsamples: alternative definitions of policy support 38
Figure A A.8. Effect of size on Capex - Sector-specific regressions 39
Figure A A.9. Effect of firm financial characteristics on revenues in subsamples: alternative definitions of policy support 40