Revenue collapses and the consumption of small business owners in the COVID-19 pandemic

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kim, Olivia S.; Parker, Jonathan A.; Schoar, Antoinette
• 署名单位: Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2025.104079
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: smes; consumption; MPC; COVID recession; Government stimulus

摘要

Using financial account data linking small businesses to their owner households, we examine how business owners' consumption responded to changes in business revenues during the COVID-19 crisis. In the first two months following the National Emergency, business revenues declined by 40 percent, largely driven by national factors rather than local infection rates or policies. However, the pass-through of revenue losses to owner consumption was limited: each dollar of revenue loss resulted in only a 1.6-cent decline in consumption. This muted pass-through persisted through 2021, even after the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines. Our findings suggest that federal subsidies and pandemic-induced reductions in spending opportunities explain the limited impact.