Unpacking Impact of COVID-19 on Vietnamese Firms: Evidence from a Novel Survey

By Era Dabla-Norris, Anh Thi Ngoc Nguyen, Yuanyan S Zhang, Thuy Dinh Pham, Nga Huong Phi, Duong Thuy Nguyen, Tuan Danh Duong

September 30, 2022

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Era Dabla-Norris, Anh Thi Ngoc Nguyen, Yuanyan S Zhang, Thuy Dinh Pham, Nga Huong Phi, Duong Thuy Nguyen, and Tuan Danh Duong. Unpacking Impact of COVID-19 on Vietnamese Firms: Evidence from a Novel Survey, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2022) accessed December 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

Using a unique representative panel survey of Vietnamese enterprises in 2020, we find that the pandemic and associated government support package had a heterogenous impact across firms. The government support package, particularly tax cuts and deferrals, helped alleviate short term stress, but tight ineligibility criteria and cumbersome procedures impacted take-up. Econometric analysis suggests that the likelihood of accessing support was associated with firm size, with larger firms more likely to receive support compared to smaller firms, even after controlling for sector, firm ownership and financial health. Credit support was effective in alleviating liquidity constraints and allaying firm pessimism only for large firms. Interestingly, firms experiencing sales losses and those with lower pre-crisis productivity were more likely to resort to digitalization, suggesting that the pandemic could help narrow productivity gaps.

Subject: COVID-19, Credit, Digitalization, Health, Labor, Labor costs, Money, Production, Productivity, Technology

Keywords: Coping strategy, COVID-19, Credit, Credit support, Digitalization, Europe, Firm pessimism, Firms’ coping strategies, Global, Government support package, Labor costs, Policy support, Productivity, Self-coping strategy

Publication Details

Pages:

30
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2022/201
Stock No:

WPIEA2022201
ISBN:

9798400222375
ISSN:

1018-5941

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