Startups and Employment Following the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Calculator
21 Pages Posted: 8 May 2020
Date Written: April 2020
Abstract
Early indicators suggest that startup activity is heavily disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown. At the same time, empirical evidence has shown that such disturbances may have long-lasting effects on aggregate employment. This paper presents a calculator which can be used to compute these effects under different scenarios regarding (i) the number of startups, (ii) the growth potential of startups, and (iii) the survival rate of young firms. We find that employment losses can be substantial and last for more than a decade, even when the assumed slump in startup activity is only short-lived.
Keywords: COVID-19, employment, Macroeconomics, Startups
JEL Classification: D22, E23, E24, I10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation