Is the German Mittelstand more resistant to crises

Empirical evidence from the Great Recession

Bibliographic Data

ID14868231
AuthorsMichael Berlemann (0000-0003-3623-4653, Ifo Institute for Economic Research, corresponding author), Vera Jahn (0000-0001-8485-1184, Ruhr University Bochum), Robert Lehmann (0000-0001-6684-7536, Helmut Schmidt University)
Year2022
Volume59
Issue3
Pages1169-1195
Publication date2022-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSmall Business Economics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0921-898X • E-ISSN: 1573-0913
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11187-021-00573-7
OpenAlexW3215603508
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

In a globalized world with high international factor mobility, crises often spread quickly over large parts of the world. Politicians carry a vital interest in keeping crises as small and short as possible. Against this background we study whether the type of company of owner-managed SMEs, in Germany well-known as Mittelstand firms, helps increasing an economy’s crisis resistance. We study this issue at the example of the Great Recession of the years 2008/2009. Using micro panel data from the ifo Business Survey, we study the comparative performance of Mittelstand enterprises and find supporting evidence for the hypothesis that Mittelstand firms performed more stable throughout the Great Recession than non-Mittelstand firms. We also show that owner-managed SMEs performed significantly better than SMEs and owner-managed large enterprises. Thus, it is rather the combination of firm size and owner-management that leads to more crisis resistance

Business · Economics · Entrepreneurship · Geography · German · Great recession · Labour economics · Recession · Resistance (ecology · Economic Policies and Impacts · Family Business Performance and Succession · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Finance

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Open DOIOpen Access