Abstract:

COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to influence the company’s export, but its final impact could differ depending on particular factors and circumstances. The aim of this paper is  to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on firms' exports (performance and prospects) across different types of economic activities and industries. We set out the general research question of whether sectoral or industrial business specificity matters when it comes to the impact of the pandemic on the businesses’ performance. To find the answer and achieve our aim, several detailed hypotheses were formulated. They are verified with the use of statistical methods. The study is based on firms' level data collected from the survey conducted from 14 to 21 July 2021 on Polish companies. The main findings of this study implicate that the export performance across industries may be more determined by other factors than demand and supply shocks caused by the pandemic. Moreover, the distinction between production, services, retail and wholesale may be the key differentiator of pandemic influence on export performance and prospects.