The impact of COVID-19 on employment and income of vocational graduates in China: Evidence from surveys in January and July 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the economy of China in early 2020. Strict lockdown measures were implemented nationwide to prevent the further spread of the virus. During the lockdown period, many economic activities were affected, which had repercussions for the nation's overall employment. Vocational graduates were among the most affected by the crisis. To estimate the causal effects of COVID-19 on the full-time employment of vocational high school graduates as well as their monthly income and hours worked by week, we exploit variations in the intensity of the pandemic in time and across space using survey data from vocational schools from six provinces in China. The results of the difference-in-differences (DID) estimates indicate that being located in counties with high pandemic intensity significantly reduced both the employment in full-time jobs of vocational graduates as well as their monthly income. Our study's analysis demonstrates that the effects of COVID-19 on the labor market can be attributed to the large-scale contraction of labor demand of the enterprises that were hiring vocational graduates. To cope with this situation, vocational graduates took various measures, including reducing consumption, drawing on their savings, searching for new jobs, taking on part-time jobs, borrowing money, and attending new training programs. In addition, the empirical analysis finds that there were heterogeneous effects with respect to gender, family social capital, the industry in which the vocational graduate was participating, and whether the individual was in a management position.     

The impact of COVID-19 on international trade: Evidence from the first shock

This study investigates how the effects of COVID-19 on international trade changed over time. To do that, we explore monthly data on worldwide trade from January to August in 2019 and 2020. Specifically, our study data include the exports of 34 countries to 173 countries. We estimated the gravity equation by employing various variables as a proxy for the COVID-19 damage. Our findings can be summarized as follows: First, regardless of our measures to quantify the COVID-19 pandemic, we found significantly negative effects of COVID-19 on the international trade of both exporting and importing countries. Second, those effects, especially the effects of COVID-19 in importing countries, tended to become insignificant since July 2020. This result implies that the harmful impacts of COVID-19 on international trade were accommodated after the first wave of the pandemic to some extent. Third, we found heterogeneous effects across industries. The negative effects on non-essential, durable products persist for a long time, whereas positive effects in industries providing medical products were observed.     

Digital finance and investment of micro and small enterprises: Evidence from China

Using China Micro and Small Enterprise Survey data, this paper examines how digital finance affects the investment behavior of MSEs in China. We find that digital finance significantly increases both MSEs' probability of applying for new investment projects and the number of projects applied. Specifically, our baseline model shows that MSEs that use digital finance are 7.5% more likely to apply for new investment projects than those who do not. The average number of new investment projects applied by MSEs that use digital finance is also 37.8% higher. Results are further substantiated by conducting a set of additional tests to rule out the potential confounding factors and a propensity score matching strategy to address for the potential self-selection bias. Heterogeneous impacts of digital finance are also studied in this paper. We find that the impact of digital finance is more prominent for younger enterprises and enterprises located in the central and western regions where there is relatively backward financial development. In the end, the underlying mechanism is further explored and the result shows that digital finance promotes the investment behavior of MSEs by reducing the degree of information asymmetry between the lender and the borrower, which alleviates the financing constraints of MSEs.     

中小企业的估时作业成本法的应用研究

2015年GDP增速破七,反映出中国经济增长速度放缓,经济压力变大,对中小企业来说尤其如此。中小企业是否取得核心竞争优势是其能否长期发展的决定性因素,而取得竞争优势的根本方法重在成本控制。作业成本法是一种比较先进的成本核算方法,能够比较好的进行过程分析和控制,估时作业成本法更是解决了作业成本法中分配难的问题,在企业产品核算中运用估时作业成本法,有利于管理层进行有效的管理和决策,促进中小企业的长期发展和壮大。本文从估时作业成本法的优势方面阐述对中小企业的运用。     

The growth challenges of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa's food processing complex

This article focuses on the growth challenges and opportunities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa's food processing complex and argues that the growth challenges of these enterprises must be seen in the context of restructuring in South Africa's agrifood system. Based on a 30-company sample of SME food processors, the article argues that supermarket sourcing practices represent the most significant obstacle to the growth of these companies. Paradoxically, the complexity of South Africa's food retail system also offers opportunities for growth. The article ends by considering policy options for assisting SMEs, given this growth opportunity.     

我国中小企业品牌营销对策研究

品牌是一个企业的必需品,代表了消费者的信任和企业能稳定生存发展壮大的保障。中小企业相对来说成本低,相对灵活,十分适合探索发展品牌战略。但目前中小企业品牌发展现状普遍不强,知名度不高。文章强调了中小企业品牌战略的重要性,对中小企业品牌发展现状以及发展方向对策等方面进行了阐述分析。     

中小型企业的销售管理策略研究

在市场经济体制下,中小型企业日益成为国民经济的重要组成部分。因此,中小企业在市场营销方面所面对的竞争更加激烈,而企业唯有通过创新才能增强企业的竞争力。随之而来的各种问题也极为显著,企业只有根据自身发展的实情和现实的市场大环境选择合理并行之有效的销售管理方法,进而确立企业正确的使命和价值观,才能脱颖而出。文章论述了中小企业销售管理所面对的问题及相应的对策。     

Riding out the COVID-19 storm: How government policies affect SMEs in China

Based on a nationally representative survey on SMEs in China, we study the impact of government policy interventions on SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings are three-fold. First, relief policies in the form of payment deferrals and exemptions significantly improve SMEs' cash flows and further stimulate their operational recovery. This effect is more pronounced for firms with larger shares of high-skilled employees. Second, financial support policies do not appear to be effective in alleviating SMEs' cash constraints or encouraging the reopening of small businesses, potentially due to difficulties in accessing policy-oriented loans and misallocation of credit. Last, regional and local lock-down policies decrease SMEs' incidence of reopening and delay their expected reopening in the near future, likely by reducing consumer demand. Our findings shed new light on the policy debates on supporting SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic.     

COVID-19 pandemic,health risks,and economic consequences: Evidence from China

This paper introduces the Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered model into the Bewley-type incomplete market model and uses it to study the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on China's macroeconomics. The calibrated model predicts that the average propensity to consume household wealth will decline, while the demand for money will increase, and these predictions are consistent with the data. Monetary policy is effective because it provides enough liquidity for households to buffer health risks. Monetary stimulus is more effective in an economy with greater health risks and consumption uncertainty. Counterfactual experiments show that abandoning the containment policy too early would avoid a sharp drop in output and employment in the short term, but it would greatly increase mortality and ultimately lead to a decline in social welfare.     

中小企业融资创新

中小企业是我国经济发展的生力军,但是它们在发展过程中遇到融资的瓶颈。本文拟从金融物流的角度探讨中小企业融资的新渠道。     

中小型企业管理提升探究

中小型企业在我国国民经济发展中起着愈来愈重要的作用。但中小型企业多为民营企业,他们的管理能力和水平与大型国企相比尚存在着较大差距。国家在关注国有企业管理提升的同时,也十分重视中小型企业的管理提升。文章探索了中小型企业提升管理的思路,提出自我诊断、寻找差距、扬长避短、加强整改、持续改进、不断完善的途径和方法。     

Pandemic and employment: Evidence from COVID-19 in South Korea

Using two complementary approaches, this study examines the deterioration of the Korean labor market during the first 10 months of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Applying the synthetic control method, we first find that the COVID-19 outbreak has eliminated 1.1 million jobs (4.2% of nonfarm employment) nationwide in April 2020. However, a difference-in-differences approach shows that local variation in COVID-19 intensity, which captures the “regional” effect of the pandemic, explains only 9% of the national shock. The portion of the regional effect remains low until December. This is mainly because the nationwide fear and policies such as social distancing measures also have a “common” effect on local economies. Our findings suggest that the COVID-19 shock may last long in the labor market due to this common effect unless the risk of infection is completely eliminated.     

Effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on city-center and suburban housing markets: Evidence from Hangzhou,China

In 2020, governments worldwide enforced lockdowns to contain the spread of COVID-19, severely impeding aspects of daily life such as work, school, and tourism. Consequently, numerous economic activities were affected. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, city-center housing markets in areas surrounding popular tourist attractions performed better than did suburban housing markets because of the output of the tourism industry. This study examines the changes in the performance of city-center and suburban housing markets in regions with popular tourist attractions after the lockdown. Specifically, the dynamics of city-center and suburban housing markets in Hangzhou, where West Lake is located, and the changes in the information transfer between these housing markets after the lockdown are explored. Transaction data from January 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020 are used to perform analysis, in which adjusted housing prices and asking prices are employed to measure market performance and sellers’ pricing strategies, and transaction volume and time on the market are used to measure market liquidity and transaction frequency. The results reveal that the effects of lockdowns differ between city-center and suburban housing markets. After the lockdown, a substantial structural change is observed in the suburban housing market; the volatility risk of housing prices decreases substantially, causing an increase in transaction premiums. Housing prices and transaction volume increase in the city-center housing market after the lockdown; this is possibly because of the influence from the overall housing market booms. In addition, because sellers raise their asking prices and the transaction time is extended, the sellers in the city-center housing market are particularly influenced by the disposition effect. This leads to a reversal in the lead–lag relationship between the city center and suburban housing markets in terms of informativeness. Specifically, before the lockdown, the city-center market transfers information to the suburban market, but after the lockdown, the suburban market transfers information to the city-center market. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world in many aspects; this paper finds that it will also change the development pattern of the real estate market in different locations.     

The spatiotemporal evolution of COVID-19 in China and its impact on urban economic resilience

The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a major political, economic, social, and cultural impact on various countries worldwide. Based on economic operation, public opinion, public health, government policies and population inflow in the affected areas, this study measures daily economic resilience during the COVID-19 outbreak in 286 prefecture-level cities in China (from 1^st January to 8^th February, 2020). Specifically, this study further investigates the economic resilience and the number of COVID-19 cases by analysing the evolutionary trend of their spatial distribution pattern using the standard deviation ellipse (SDE). The impact of COVID-19 on economic resilience is examined using a panel vector autoregressive model. The following are the findings. (1) The economic resilience value decreased throughout the study period, but the cities with high economic resilience showed a trend of spatial diffusion in the late study period. Wuhan’s lockdown strategy was benefit to control the spread of COVID-19, and promptly stopped the decline of China's economic resilience. (2) Economic resilience and the number of COVID-19 cases influenced their future trends positively, but this effect gradually decreased over time. During the COVID-19, although the number of confirmed cases significantly influenced China's economic resilience, and the disease's spread was evident, China maintained a high level of economic development resilience. (3) The rise in economic resilience during the pandemic's early stages promoted the number of confirmed cases, but the strength of this relationship gradually declined as the pandemic progressed. Returning to work and other activities may increase the risk of infection. Numerous policies implemented at the outbreak’ inception aided in laying the groundwork for economic resilience. Although the outbreak had a detrimental effect on economic resilience in the later stages of the pandemic, a convergent trend was observed at the end of the research period. (4) Using variance decomposition, we discovered that future economic resilience was significantly influenced by itself and by relatively few changes. However, the impact of confirmed cases on economic resilience becomes apparent after the fourth period. This indicates that the number of confirmed cases must be limited during the initial stages. The early support of various sectors in China facilitated the spatial expansion of economically resilient cities. The pandemic has a non-negligible negative impact on economic resilience, but this has been mitigated by Wuhan's timely closure.     

中小企业物流金融风险及对策分析

物流金融是物流业与金融业的融合发展,能够有效缓解中小企业的融资困难。文章分析了中小企业物流金融存在的风险,并提出了相应的对策,对于促进中小企业物流金融的发展具有积极意义。     

关于国企经营者激励约束机制的现状及思考

中小企业在促进经济繁荣、提供就业机会、开发新产品、保障社会稳定等方面起着重要作用。但从目前情况看 ,中小企业发展面临许多问题 ,必须采取有效措施 ,加快促进中小企业发展     

动态联盟中的盟员优化选择问题研究

中小企业的融资难问题已成为我国中小企业发展的“瓶颈”。本文就如何构建有效的中小企业融资体系及该体系应解决的如政府如何干预、担保机构的设立等问题 ,提出了依据市场选择为主的解决方案。     

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on micro,small, and medium enterprises in Asia and their digitalization responses

Soon after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments began extending financial and other forms of support to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and their workers because smaller firms are more vulnerable to negative shocks to their supply chain, labor supply, and final demand for goods and services than larger firms. Since MSMEs are diverse, however, the severity of the pandemic’s impact on them varies considerably depending on their characteristics. Using online survey data of MSMEs from eight developing economies in South, Southeast, and Northeast Asia, this paper attempts to deepen our understanding of the impact of the pandemic on MSMEs, especially their employment, sales revenue, and cash flow. It also characterizes those firms that began participating in online commerce and tries to determine how their use of online commerce and their employment are related in this difficult time. This paper also examines the government support that MSMEs have received and the extent to which it has satisfied their support needs.     

COVID-19-associated income loss and job loss: Evidence from Indonesia

COVID-19 pandemic has substantially altered socioeconomic conditions around the world. While numerous existing studies analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among developed states, little is known about its effects on people’s lives and social discrepancies in emerging economies. To this end, we empirically analyze the 2020 Indonesian Labor Force Survey data, hypothesizing that COVID-19 has given idiosyncratic risks and impacts on people by gender, age, education, occupation and regions. We find that income loss and job loss are prominent among males, younger and less educated people as well as among self-employed and part-time non-agricultural workers. These tendencies are not pronounced for people enjoying high income and mobility, but tend to be evident for urban residents and those having dependents. Notably, self-employed people have the highest risk of losing income, while part-time urban workers face the highest probability of losing their jobs. The propensity score matching method also demonstrates that these losses are most evident for the regions susceptible to COVID-19. Overall, we suggest that socioeconomically disadvantaged groups require additional support to strengthen their resilience in the face of exogenous shocks, such as the one caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.