Based on the German Business Panel, the study examines how small and medium-sized en-terprises (SMEs) and Mittelstand businesses fared during the Covid-19 pandemic. It shows that SMEs as well as Mittelstand businesses were more strongly affected by the crisis than large and non-Mittelstand businesses. SMEs and Mittelstand businesses also recovered less well from the crisis than their counterparts in the second year of the pandemic. The use of public Corona support was less influenced by business size than by its being a Mittelstand business. These aids were used by the businesses as a complement to their own operational efforts and thus did not crowd out the businesses’ own initiative. All in all, the aid has primarily reached those who needed it.
IfM-Materialien | 2022 Mittelstand businesses in the Covid19 pandemic – being affected by and dealing with the crisis
Rieger-Fels, M.; Kay, R.; Weicht, R. (2022): Mittelständische Unternehmen in der Covid-19-Pandemie - Betroffenheit von und Umgang mit der Krise, in: IfM Bonn, IfM-Materialien Nr. 295, Bonn.