Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/223899 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 13457
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
COVID-19 hit firms by surprise. In a high frequency, representative panel of German firms, the business outlook declined and business uncertainty increased only when the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic led to domestic policy changes: The announcement of nation-wide school closures on March 13 caused by far the largest change in business perceptions. In contrast, business perceptions hardly reacted to any other potential source of information: Firms did not learn from foreign policy measures, even if they relied on inputs from China or Italy. The local, county-level spread of COVID-19 cases affected expectations and uncertainty, albeit to a much lesser extent than the domestic policy changes.
Subjects: 
expectations
uncertainty
policy
COVID-19
firms
JEL: 
E66
E32
H32
D22
D84
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
662.44 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.