COVID-19 pandemic and firm performance: An empirical investigation using a cross-country sample

We investigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on firm performance using the quarterly financial data of firms from 89 countries and show that the pandemic has a detrimental impact on firm performance. The firms that held more long-term debt and account receivables on their balance sheet before the pandemic were relatively more affected amid the pandemic. The cash buffers can make firms more resilient to the COVID-19 crisis. The quality of a country's governance plays a vital role in mitigating the adverse impact of the pandemic on firm performance. (c) 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/4.0/)