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Abstract

We explore the heterogeneity across firms in the impact of and response to the COVID-19 shock using a survey conducted in November 2020 matched to balance-sheet information on firm characteristics. According to our results, the impact of the COVID-19 shock was larger in the case of small, young and less productive firms located in urban areas. Moreover, these firms resorted relatively more to public-guaranteed loans, tax deferrals, and furlough schemes (ERTEs). More indebted companies, which were not hit relatively harder by the shock, also perceived public-guaranteed loans as very useful. Firms consider that uncertainty represents a key hindrance to the recovery while the announcement of the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine on November 9th 2020 increased significantly firms' subjective recovery expectations.