International practices of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) in times of coronavirus pandemic crisis

Abstract

The small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are the most vulnerable in times of crisis due to their scarce resources: financial, human, information etc., that is why the issues of providing support to entrepreneurs are relevant during crisis. The analysis of SMEs’ support international practices during recent economic crisis caused by COVID-19 infection might be used to form new approaches to supporting entrepreneurship in times of crises in Russia. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the analysis of foreign practices of supporting SMEs during the recent COVID-19 crisis. The purpose of this article is to summarize international experience in supporting SMEs in times of crisis. For this, the following objectives were set: the analysis of institutional, fiscal, monetary and regional measures of supporting entrepreneurs during the pandemic, as well as the analysis of the empirical works that access their effectiveness. General scientific methods are applied - generalizations, comparisons, synthesis, inductive approach. The authors come to the following conclusions: In response to the economic crisis caused by coronavirus, many countries have taken comprehensive measures to support small and medium-sized businesses; the most common are fiscal support measures, which include grants for entrepreneurs, direct investment, finance guarantees, temporary reimbursement of expenses and temporary tax holidays for entrepreneurs. According to the first empirical evidence, the most significant positive effect is caused by measures aimed at reducing the tax burden on entrepreneurs and compensating for their operating expenses.

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