Government support, regional well‐being, and the pivots of UK SMEs during a crisis
研究了2020-2021年新冠危机期间，英国5894家中小企业的转型行为与政府资金、知识支持及区域主观福祉的关系，发现知识支持促进转型，高福祉区域企业转型较少但政府支持效果更强。
Abstract Pivoting—a substantive transformation of the established business model (e.g., reformulation of goods, services, processes, or organizational methods in a new or significantly improved manner)—has emerged as a crisis response strategy of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). However, SMEs often lack internal resources to make pivots during a crisis; therefore, external resources from the government or regional communities become essential. This study examines how government financial and knowledge support, along with regional subjective well‐being (SWB), are—separately and jointly—related to UK SMEs' pivots during the recent crisis of Covid‐19. Examining 5894 UK SMEs between September 2020 and April 2021 and using a multilevel approach, we find that SMEs' pivots are positively associated with government knowledge support and, to a lesser degree, with government financial support and that SMEs in regions with higher SWB are likely to make fewer pivots in times of crisis. The positive relationship between government support and pivots is strengthened when SMEs are embedded in regions with higher SWB.