蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
SMEs and Workers during Crises: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Uganda
蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings
vol. 115,
May 2025
(pp. 345–50)
Abstract
We use a five-year panel of Ugandan SMEs, supplemented with phone-survey data from August 2020, to analyze how the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic affected profits and employment. Most firms had employees, enabling us to investigate whether鈥攁nd how鈥攖he crisis reshaped SMEs' job-creation capacity, with particular focus on gender differences. Profits fell substantially for all firms, yet male entrepreneurs paradoxically expanded their workforce鈥攕uggesting that hiring under crisis may arise partly from social obligations. Meanwhile, female entrepreneurs bore heavier caregiving loads and relied more on extended family support, potentially hampering future growth through added caregiving and reciprocal obligations.Citation
Gulesci, Selim, Francesco Loiacono, Andreas Madestam, and Miri Stryjan. 2025. "SMEs and Workers during Crises: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Uganda." 蝌蚪网 Papers and Proceedings 115: 345–50. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20251097Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D22 Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
- G32 Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- I12 Health Behavior
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- L25 Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
- O14 Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology