Effects of COVID-19 Stringency Measures on Business Indicators in the European Union
Effects of COVID-19 Stringency Measures on Business Indicators in the European Union

Author(s): Armin Kovači
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Economy
Published by: Udruženje ekonomista i menadžera Balkana
Keywords: Business indicators; Stringency measures; Business policy
Summary/Abstract: The global pandemic had a big effect on business and the economy overall. Affected by the fear of the spreading virus, many countries implemented stringency measures. These measures additionally affected the level of business activities. The main objective of this study was to research and analyze the business effects of COVID-19 measures at the level of the European Union. Business indicators included business investment rate, the gross profit share of non-financial corporations, assets of non-financial corporations as a percentage of GDP, economic sentiment indicator, production in construction, production in industry, and the volume of retail trade (monthly data, percentage change on previous period). The main indicator used to show the level of stringency measures was the COVID-19 Stringency Index. Results showed a high correlation between stringency measures and business investment rate, assets of non-financial corporations, production in industry, production in construction and volume of retail trade. Some of these results could be under the influence of the European Union’s long-term budget, coupled with NextGenerationEU.

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