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The COVID19 pandemic, a unique and devastating respiratory disease outbreak, has affected global populations as the disease spreads rapidly. Recent Deep Learning breakthroughs may improve COVID19 prediction and forecasting as a tool of precise and fast detection, however, current methods are still being examined to achieve higher accuracy and precision. This study analyzed the collection contained 8055 CT image samples, 5427 of which were COVID cases and 2628 non COVID. The 9544 Xray samples included 4044 COVID patients and 5500 non COVID cases. The most accurate models are MobileNet V3 (97.872 percent), DenseNet201 (97.567 percent), and GoogleNet Inception V1 (97.643 percent). High accuracy indicates that these models can make many accurate predictions, as well as others, are also high for MobileNetV3 and DenseNet201. An extensive evaluation using accuracy, precision, and recall allows a comprehensive comparison to improve predictive models by combining loss optimization with scalable batch normalization in this study. Our analysis shows that these tactics improve model performance and resilience for advancing COVID19 prediction and detection and shows how Deep Learning can improve disease handling. The methods we suggest would strengthen healthcare systems, policymakers, and researchers to make educated decisions to reduce COVID19 and other contagious diseases.
Wandel und Krise im Gastronomiebereich: Herausforderungen und Handlungsempfehlungen für Restaurants
(2022)
Seit Februar 2020 fordert die Corona-Pandemie einen hohen Tribut von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Unzählige Branchen standen plötzlich Herausforderungen gegenüber, die es so zuvor noch nicht gegeben hat. Insbesondere die Gastronomie wurde von dem Shutdown hart getroffen. Restaurants, Bars und Cafés mussten unerwartet schließen. Dies führte branchenweit zu wachsenden Herausforderungen und steigenden Existenzängsten. Für das Gaststättengewerbe bedeutet dies den größten Notstand der Nachkriegszeit. Die Branche musste sich innerhalb kürzester Zeit an die enormen Veränderungen, die diese Pandemie hervorbrachte, anpassen. Die Situation verlangte von Restaurantbetreibern, aktiv tätig zu werden, um sich der aus der Krise erwachsenden Probleme zu stellen und langfristig erfolgreich zu bleiben. Dieser Beitrag bietet einen Einblick in die Situation der Gastronomie in Deutschland und beleuchtet dazu die wesentlichen Herausforderungen dieser Branche. Dabei wird der Fokus auf die Lage von Restaurants während der Coronakrise gerichtet und konkrete Maßnahmen zur Sicherung der zukünftigen Existenz betrachtet.
Die Corona-Pandemie erforderte in kürzester Zeit die Übertragung der Lehrveranstaltungen in digitale Formate. Dieser Beitrag stellt vor, wie die Umstellung auf digitale Lehre an der Hochschule Offenburg gelingen konnte, wie sich die Situation aus Sicht der Studierenden und der Lehrenden darstellte und welche zukunftsweisenden Erkenntnisse aus den digitalen Semestern gewonnen werden konnten. Anhand eines Lehrbeispiels im Bereich Digitale Labore wird ein Weg aufgezeigt, der den Transfer und die Weiterentwicklung bewährter digitaler Lehrformate ermöglicht.
Eine Pandemie mit neuen Hygiene- und Abstandsregelungen ist vordergründig keine spezifische Herausforderung für den Bildungssektor auf den unterschiedlichen Ebenen. Da jedoch unsere Bildungseinrichtungen so angelegt sind, dass der persönliche Kontakt und Veranstaltungen in Präsenzform die Regel sind und auch unabdingbar erscheinen, waren alle Ebenen der Bildung massiv von den Einschränkungen der Jahre 2020 und 2021 betroffen. Systeme, die seit Jahren in der pädagogischen und/oder didaktischen Konzeption gefordert sind, neuen Herausforderungen gerecht zu werden und neue Impulse aufzunehmen, müssen im Sinne eines Corona-Managements nicht nur das aktuelle Risiko- und Krisenmanagement, sondern die digitale Transformation und die strategische Neuausrichtung im Rahmen der Schul- und Hochschulentwicklung bewältigen.
Rasch auftretende grundsätzliche Veränderungen der Rahmenbedingungen, wie sie durch die Corona-Pandemie für Unternehmen der Agentur- und Eventbranche spürbar wurden, stellen Unternehmen sowie Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer vor besondere Herausforderungen. Zwei Vertreter aus Unternehmen dieser Branche – eine inhabergeführte Eventagentur und eine inhabergeführte Werbeagentur – zeigen in einem kurzen Interview auf, welche Erfahrungen sie gemacht haben und welche Herausforderungen sie daraus für die Zukunft ableiten.
Die Musik-, Kunst- und Kulturszene ist vielfältig und lebt von Individualität. An der Diskussionsrunde zum Thema „Überlebensstrategien während der Pandemie“ nehmen die Musiker*innen Lindy Huppertsberg, Pat Appleton, Martin Verdonk, Tommy Baldu und Markus Birkle am 10.05.2021 teil. Die Teilnehmer*innen der Diskussionsrunde erwirtschaften ihr Einkommen primär über Konzertgagen und sind als freischaffende Musiker*innen etabliert und erfolgreich in der Musikwelt tätig. Trotz großer Übereinstimmungen werden Strategien während der Krise bemerkenswert individuell gewählt. Ebenso vielschichtig ist der Fokus bei der Karriereplanung und Auswahl der musikalischen Projekte. Zwei essenzielle Themenbereiche kristallisieren sich im Verlauf der Unterhaltung heraus: Zum einen die persönlichen singulären Strategien für ein wirtschaftliches Überleben, zum anderen die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Verlust der Möglichkeit auf Resonanz und Empathie mit Mitmusiker*innen und dem Publikum. Die Frage wird aufgeworfen, ob Kulturschaffende einer Gesellschaft eine emotionale Stimme geben.
Die Pandemie brachte zunächst zahlreiche Beschränkungen bei Präsenzveranstaltungen mit sich, die sich rasch und unmittelbar auf unterschiedliche Bereiche der Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft auswirkten. Neben der Frage des wirtschaftlichen Überlebens für Institutionen und Akteure stellt sich in diesem Zusammenhang auch die Frage nach der gesellschaftlichen Relevanz dieses Sektors.
Pandemie und Moral
(2022)
In der Corona-Pandemie wandelte sich die Moral der Menschen. Während auf der einen Seite Solidaritätsbestrebungen verstärkt zu verzeichnen waren, war andererseits aber auch, oft aus Angst und Unsicherheit erwachsen, ein Extremverhalten zu beobachten. Soll moralischer Fortschritt zum Bestehen der großen Herausforderungen der Zukunft beitragen, sind eine Bildungsoffensive, vor allem aber auch Gerechtigkeit, die Voraussetzungen.
Background: Many countries have restricted public life in order to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV2). As a side effect of related measures, physical activity (PA) levels may have decreased.
Objective: We aimed (1) to quantify changes in PA and (2) to identify variables potentially predicting PA reductions.
Methods: A systematic review with random-effects multilevel meta-analysis was performed, pooling the standardized mean differences in PA measures before and during public life restrictions.
Results: A total of 173 trials with moderate methodological quality (modified Downs and Black checklist) were identified. Compared to pre-pandemic, total PA (SMD − 0.65, 95% CI − 1.10 to − 0.21) and walking (SMD − 0.52, 95% CI − 0.29 to − 0.76) decreased while sedentary behavior increased (SMD 0.91, 95% CI: 0.17 to 1.65). Reductions in PA affected all intensities (light: SMD − 0.35, 95% CI − 0.09 to − 0.61, p = .013; moderate: SMD − 0.33, 95% CI − 0.02 to − 0.6; vigorous: SMD − 0.33, − 0.08 to − 0.58, 95% CI − 0.08 to − 0.58) to a similar degree. Moderator analyses revealed no influence of variables such as sex, age, body mass index, or health status. However, the only continent without a PA reduction was Australia and cross-sectional trials yielded higher effect sizes (p < .05).
Conclusion: Public life restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in moderate reductions in PA levels and large increases in sedentary behavior. Health professionals and policy makers should therefore join forces to develop strategies counteracting the adverse effects of inactivity.
Ziel des Beitrages ist es, die geschäftspolitischen Entscheidungen der Reedereien in dem extrem volatilen Umfeld einer Pandemie, geprägt von regulatorischen und operativen Schwierigkeiten, zu analysieren, um anschließend nachzuvollziehen, wie die gesamte Branche der Containerlinienreedereien einen derartigen Aufschwung erreichen konnte. Dabei wird eruiert, ob die Sonderprivilegien der Reedereien, wie der jüngst verlängerten Gruppenfreistellung für Konsortien und die hohen Subventionen, unter den aktuellen Bedingungen noch Rechtfertigung finden können.
Hiervon losgelöst wird zudem analysiert, wie die einst florierende Branche der Kreuzfahrtreedereien mit den pandemiebedingten Herausforderungen, wie den ausbleibenden Buchungen, notwendigen Routenänderungen und Rücktrittswellen, umgegangen ist.
The aim of this essay is to point out the challenges and opportunities of government export credits and insurance in Europe. The Covid-19 pandemic confronted the entire world with new challenges. This also applied to the export financing and insurance market. Furthermore, there are also challenges that play a major role for ECAs regardless of the pandemic. However, the risks are also offset by opportunities that may enable European export credit agencies to prevail against international competition.
The focus of this essay is on the export credit agencies from Finland (Finnvera), Sweden (EKN) and Portugal (COSEC). As part of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the three ECAs share many fundamental similarities but in some points they may also distinguish from each other.
Supporting the COVID-19 response in Asia and the Pacific—The role of the Asian Development Bank.
(2020)
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all countries of the Asia Pacific region over the last few months with far reaching economic, health and social consequences. To counter the impact, governments have accelerated their health spending and announced large macroeconomic stabilization and stimulus policy packages. As with past disasters and crises in the region, the Asian Development Bank has reacted with a number of targeted support interventions since the very early stages of the outbreak. In mid- April 2020, the Bank then put forward a comprehensive COVID-19 Response Package totalling $20 billion to support its member countries which rests on four pillars.
The last few months have proven that multilateral development banks like the Asian Development Bank have the ability to respond quickly and to mobilize significant resources for a global emergency like COVID-19. Whilst this financial supported is urgently needed at this point, attention will need to be paid on how debt sustainability for low- and middle-income countries can be ensured in the coming years. Given the unprecedented scale of and uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, it may offer a window of opportunity to redesign the way developmental finance is coordinated and the way it is delivered. This also includes a chance to “build back better” and to focus on a sustainable, resilient and green recovery.
If the current situation could be described in one word, it would be ‘uncertainty’. In times of global crisis, it is important to support the economy to keep businesses alive. Therefore, this paper shows the Finnish government measures and how exporters can benefit from them. Looking in particular at the maritime sector, the research pointed out that there were not that many specific measures for exporters and shipbuilders. This essay detected that the provided measures are suitable for the needs of the affected companies and are an effective instrument by the government to stabilise the industry. This is proved by the number of companies taking advantage of these loans, grants and guarantees. Due to the already mentioned uncertainty, it remains unclear how measures have to be adjusted in the future.
Africa was the last region to witness significant spread of the COVID-19. Nonetheless, it was expected that the continent would be hardest hit due to the fragility of its health and social infrastructure as well as the vulnerability of its economies. While the rates of infection and death were initially relatively low and contained economically, the continent was hard hit early on. Cuts in credit and trade services by international banks, along with a decline in export earnings, tourism receipts, and inward remittances, have severely constrained the ability of African countries to finance imports of essential goods and to service maturing debt obligations.
However, Africa has over time created mechanisms and institutions to help cushion its economies from the adverse consequences of global shocks. Among these institutions is Afreximbank, which emerged out of the debt crisis of the 1980s. This paper presents an overview of the Bank’s support to African countries in dealing with two major derivatives of the COVID-19 pandemic: the trade finance challenges resulting from cuts in international financial flows to the continent, and the health consequences of the pandemic.
In pandemic times, the possibilities for conventional sports activities are severely limited; many sports facilities are closed or can only be used with restrictions. To counteract this lack of health activities and social exchange, people are increasingly adopting new digital sports solutions—a behavior change that had already started with the trend towards fitness apps and activity trackers. Existing research suggests that digital solutions increase the motivation to move and stay active. This work further investigates the potentials of digital sports incorporating the dimensions gender and preference for team sports versus individual sports. The study focuses on potential users, who were mostly younger professionals and academics. The results show that the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic had a significant negative impact on sports activity, particularly on persons preferring team sports. To compensate, most participants use more digital sports than before, and there is a positive correlation between the time spent physically active during the pandemic and the increase in motivation through digital sports. Nevertheless, there is still considerable skepticism regarding the potential of digital sports solutions to increase the motivation to do sports, increase performance, or raise a sense of team spirit when done in groups.
Governments have restricted public life during the COVID-19 pandemic, inter alia closing sports facilities and gyms. As regular exercise is essential for health, this study examined the effect of pandemic-related confinements on physical activity (PA) levels. A multinational survey was performed in 14 countries. Times spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) as well as in vigorous physical activity only (VPA) were assessed using the Nordic Physical Activity Questionnaire (short form). Data were obtained for leisure and occupational PA pre- and during restrictions. Compliance with PA guidelines was calculated based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). In total, n = 13,503 respondents (39 ± 15 years, 59% females) were surveyed. Compared to pre-restrictions, overall self-reported PA declined by 41% (MVPA) and 42.2% (VPA). Reductions were higher for occupational vs. leisure time, young and old vs. middle-aged persons, previously more active vs. less active individuals, but similar between men and women. Compared to pre-pandemic, compliance with WHO guidelines decreased from 80.9% (95% CI: 80.3–81.7) to 62.5% (95% CI: 61.6–63.3). Results suggest PA levels have substantially decreased globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key stakeholders should consider strategies to mitigate loss in PA in order to preserve health during the pandemic.
Due to the pandemic of 2020, many teaching and research institutions are confronted with extraordinary working conditions. In order to enable empirical data collection under these special circumstances, teachers and scientists need to respond flexibly and new concepts need to be developed. This paper deals with the challenges that arise in day-to-day teaching and provides different approaches to meet these challenges. It covers quantitative surveys, remote UX-testing methods as an alternative to eye tracking studies in the lab, as well as face-to-face user experience testings under strict hygiene measures.
Seit Jahrzehnten mussten Museen nicht mehr für so eine lange Zeit schließen wie zurzeit. Um trotz der Coronapandemie die Möglichkeit eines Museumsbesuches zu eröffnen, bieten viele Museen virtuelle Rundgänge an. So kann man beispielsweise ganz entspannt von Zuhause das Deutsche Museum in München besichtigen oder auch der Mona Lisa im Louvre einen Besuch abstatten und dies ganz ohne lange Wartezeiten oder großen Andrang. Die digitalen Angebote reichen von Videos, virtuellen Ausstellungsrundgängen, digitalen Bildergalerien oder Podcasts bis hin zu 360° Bildern und Videos, sowie Anwendungen, die auf Online-Spielen beruhen. Letzteres sorgt dafür, dass Besucher sich ähnlich wie bei Online-Spielen per Mausklick oder Pfeiltasten der Tastatur frei bewegen können und so die Möglichkeit haben, die Umgebung und dort interessante Objekte näher zu betrachten.
Höchstwahrscheinlich war das Thema eines virtuellen Museumsbesuches nie aktueller als während der Coronapandemie, jedoch gab es auch schon vor der Pandemie viele Museen, die ihre Angebote für virtuelle Besucher geöffnet haben. Nicht nur der Zugang zu Kulturangeboten für die breite Masse war ein Grund für die Digitalisierung der Museen, auch der Einsturz des Kölner Stadtarchivs 2009 etwa zeigte, wie wichtig die Digitalisierung ist, um historische Werke im Falle einer Zerstörung nicht komplett zu verlieren. Denn auch wenn das Original nicht mehr verfügbar ist, können historische Werke bewahrt und der breiten Masse zugänglich gemacht werden. Dennoch wird dieses Thema auch nach der Coronapandemie nicht an Relevanz verlieren, da auch vorangegangene Epidemien zeigen, dass neue Strategien mittel- und langfristig notwendig sind und sein werden.
Die Corona-Pandemie hat nicht nur tiefgreifende Auswirkungen auf das gesellschaftliche Leben, auch in der Wirtschaft sind die Folgen zu spüren. Dabei können diese Folgen in den einzelnen Branchen sehr unterschiedlich sein. Wo der E-Commerce eine steigende Nachfrage verzeichnen konnte, ist die Nachfrage im Kultur- und Freizeitsektor nahezu komplett eingebrochen. Aber nicht in allen Branchen sind die Auswirkungen so eindeutig. Diese Arbeit befasst sich deshalb mit den Auswirkungen der Corona-Pandemie auf die Werbefilmproduktionen in Deutschland. Dabei werden die folgenden beiden Forschungsfragen untersucht:
„Welche Gefahren birgt die wirtschaftliche Krise in Folge der Corona-Pandemie für die Werbefilmproduktionsbranche und wie kann diesen entgegengewirkt werden?“
„Welche Chancen ergeben sich aus der aktuellen Wirtschaftskrise und wie können diese für die Zukunft genutzt werden?“
Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, wurden zunächst die Begrifflichkeiten rund um das Thema genau definiert. Aufbauend auf der Literaturrecherche wurde zudem ein Leitfaden für Interviews mit drei Experten aus der Branche erstellt und diese anschließend durchgeführt. Dabei konnten neben einem detaillierteren Einblick in die Branche die Grundlagen für die ebenfalls durchgeführte quantitative Umfrage, die an eine repräsentative Stichprobe aus Unternehmen der Branche gestellt wurde, geschaffen werden.
Es zeigt sich, dass die Werbefilmproduktionen nach einem im ersten Lockdown nahezu kompletten Stillstand, durch schnelles Handeln, effektive Anpassungen in den Arbeitsabläufen vornehmen und dadurch zügig die Arbeit wieder aufnehmen konnten. Auch wenn die Unternehmen weiterhin Schwierigkeiten im Bereich der Planung und Produktion hatten und haben, konnten viele der Unternehmen durch die Verlagerung von Prozessen in die digitale Welt neue Geschäftsfelder erschließen und einen steigenden Umsatz verzeichnen. Schnelles Handeln und Innovationsbereitschaft zeigen sich dabei als zentrale Eigenschaften für eine positive Geschäftsentwicklung in der Krise.
Weiterführende Forschung kann sich mit dem Themenbereich effizientes Arbeiten im Home-Office beschäftigen. Auch im Bereich der Werbefilmproduktion für Social Media und Unternehmenshomepages und im Speziellen, welche Unternehmen diese in Zukunft vermehrt nachfragen, besteht noch Forschungsbedarf. Wie sich die fehlende praktische Erfahrung auf die Qualität der Lehre auswirkt, ist ebenfalls eine noch offene Fragestellung.
Unter dem Deckmantel der Covid-19-Pandemie werden soziale Einrichtungen wie Bildungseinrichtungen oder das Gesundheitssystem systematisch auf Digitalisierung getrimmt. Schon Grundschulkinder werden an die Arbeit am Display gewöhnt und Schulen mit Geldern aus dem Digitalpakt Schule technisch aufgerüstet. Lernsoftware, Schulcloud und Learning Analytics erlauben die Verdatung von Schülerbiographien. Digitale Endgeräte als Leihgabe für Schülerinnen und Schüler bereiten den Fernunterricht für die Zeit nach der Pandemie vor. Auf der Strecke bleiben dabei möglicherweise nicht nur Grundrechte, Privatsphäre und letztlich die Autonomie des Menschen, sondern auch das notwendige Vertrauen in politische Entscheidungen, wenn etwa die Digitalisierung zunehmend aller Lebensbereiche gar nicht mehr hinterfragt wird. Dabei reichen bereits vier Forderungen zur IT-Entwicklung, um demokratisch legitimierte Alternativen von Softwarelösungen zu entwickeln, wie der Streit um die Corona-App gezeigt hat.
Der Artikel beschreibt die Herausforderungen für die Kommunikation in Ganztagsschulen im Jahr 2020 als es notwendig war bei einer sehr unbeständigen Organisations- und Kommunikationslage von Seiten der Schulverwaltungen einen Unterrichts- und Ganztagsbetrieb zu organisieren und gegenüber den wesentlichen Stakeholdern zu kommunizieren.
While prospect of tracking mobile devices' users is widely discussed all over European countries to counteract COVID-19 propagation, we propose a Bloom filter based construction providing users' location privacy and preventing mass surveillance.
We apply a solution based on Bloom filters data structure that allows a third party, a government agency, to perform some privacy-preserving set relations on a mobile telco's access logfile.
By computing set relations, the government agency, given the knowledge of two identified persons, has an instrument that provides a (possible) infection chain from the initial to the final infected user no matter at which location on a worldwide scale they are.
The benefit of our approach is that intermediate possible infected users can be identified and subsequently contacted by the agency. With such approach, we state that solely identities of possible infected users will be revealed and location privacy of others will be preserved. To this extent, it meets General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)requirements in this area.
This seminar paper examines government measures to support export-oriented companies in Belgium. After a short overview of the Belgian economy and the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, the paper introduces the available government measures for exporters. In particular, the role of Credendo as a Belgian export-credit insurance company will be discussed, and its measures will be examined in more detail. In addition, federal measures of the Belgian government will be identified, and a summary of the most important regional measures will be provided. The entirety of government measures available to export-oriented companies will be reviewed and options for the future activities of export-oriented companies will be pointed out.
The COVID-19 pandemic has the global economy under control. This paper deals with the economic consequences in Germany and shows the measures taken by the German government to support especially small and medium-sized export companies. The structure of the German economy and foreign trade promotion are explained as a basis. After considering the government's support measures, an evaluation of country comparisons shows that there is still potential for further measures, especially in direct lending and debt moratorium. The analysis is based on quantitative data from surveys and qualitative results from interviews with relevant ministries and market participants as well as recent publications.
The coronavirus affects the strongly export-oriented Swiss economy in a situation where political and economic developments are already making the cross-border exchange of goods and services difficult. For this reason, the question arises of how Switzerland can maintain or strengthen its position in global competition in the export business during an unprecedented period of crisis such as the current one.
In order to find an answer to this question, this paper critically examines the existing government support measures for Swiss exporters in times of COVID-19. The fact that Switzerland has so far not taken any specific support measures for exporters raises the actual research question of whether there is a specific necessity and demand for a special export promotion. To answer this research question, various expert opinions are compared and overall conclusions are drawn. By rapidly introducing and adapting the already existing instruments – liquidity assistance and an expansion of short-time work benefits – the federal government was able to ensure the survival of many companies. According to the authors of this paper, this focus of government support in times of crisis is just right for a small national economy in the short term and therefore preferable to a specific support of exporters. Nevertheless, given the high relative importance of foreign trade for Switzerland’s overall economic performance, there can be no recovery of national economy without a recovery of foreign trade.
This paper gives an overview of the impact that the corona pandemic has on the export industry in Canada and analyzes the different Canadian government measures for exporters. In addition, the measures are subsequently evaluated in order to identify if the support measures can help Canadian exporters to overcome the crisis. The basis of this paper are semi-structured expert interviews with experts from the financial sector, scientific literature and studies. The results have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has a major impact on Canada’s export economy and it’s GDP. Trade is only possible to a limited extent, as many borders are closed. The Canadian government reacted with an economic response plan to support Canadian individuals and businesses. This paper depicts and assesses the most eligible measures for export companies.
The aim of this essay is to analyse and evaluate the Italian government measures for exporters in response to COVID-19. The unexpected, rapid and hardly predictable consequences of the pandemic paralyzed the entire globe. For a long time, Italy was the epicentre of the virus, which caused severe damage in the Italian export economy dropping temporarily more than 40%. The Italian government reacted exemplary fast and took multiple countermeasures of high extent especially through the Italian export credit agency SACE. On the one hand, the internationally compared broad structure of SACE was a huge advantage, which allowed to release quickly numerous measures. On the other hand, there is room for improvement regarding the accessibility of measure-related information, which has been partially only available in Italian. Furthermore, there is a remarkable risk resulting from the combination of the high monetary effort to enable the numerous measures, the difficult financial situation of the Italian government and the unpredictability of the COVID-19 consequences.
This essay is about Estonia’s measures to help its exporters responding to COVID-19. The purpose is to analyse the companies’ need for help measures and the governmental objectives behind the measures and finally to analyse the possible effects. We used the two latest surveys dealing with the entrepreneurship situation and conducted two inter-views with governmental representatives exposing their objectives. The outcomes show that more than half of Estonian companies are asking for governmental help mainly as a consequence of a drop of demand. Limiting the increase of unemployment and bankrupt-cies as well as strengthening the economic recovery were identified as the main govern-mental objectives while restraining fiscal costs is a subordinated objective but becomes more important the more money will be spent. The help measures offered by KredEx are in line with these objectives. After the crisis the implications of the established measures should be analysed so that others can learn from the Estonian Government’s approach.
British Government long-term Measures for Exporters in the Manufacturing Sector in Times of COVID-19
(2020)
The authors of this paper have addressed the question of what measures have been taken by the British government to support exporters in the manufacturing sector in the era of COVID-19. A classification of the manufacturing export industry in the British economy as a whole and the impending economic impact of COVID-19 were also examined. It should be noted that the United Kingdom is facing major structural changes as a result of the Corona pandemic and its withdrawal from the European Union, which are examined more in detail in this paper. The UKEF, in cooperation with other institutions, provides a number of finance facilities for exporters already before Corona crisis. The access to get this support has been facilitated for the COVID-19 affected exporters, but no additional measures were made available.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been spreading rapidly across the globe and has seriously affected global trade. In order to reduce the pandemic’s impact on their economy, the French government released a support plan referring to the COVID-19 crisis. Since mid-tier companies play a leading role in France’s export, this paper deals with the measures taken by the French government to support especially French mid-tier export companies. Based on empirical literature and recent publications, the research question is analyzed by conducting interviews with experts, such as market participants, governmental institutions and an expert for trade and innovation. As a result of the research, the emergency measures taken by the French government, such as the CAP Francexport reinsurance scheme, the extension of cover for export guarantees, additional information and assistance, and the deferral of tax and social security contributions have mitigated the effects at first instance.
This essay deals with the Spanish economy and especially with the Spanish governmental measures for SME exporters in times of COVID-19. The focus was set on SMEs, as they are an essential part of trade for the government and are particularly affected by the pandemic. Since the financial crisis, the Spanish economy has become highly diversified, with a greater focus on exports. Competitiveness, productivity and efficiency have increased significantly. The Spanish government measures largely affect the areas liquidity and financing, taxes and protection of the employment. One of the most important measures is the 100-billion-euro credit line and the policies on unemployment. The Spanish government is dependent on further aid packages and is criticized for the measures.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an economic downturn in the Slovak Republic. To bridge corporate liquidity problems the Slovakian Government has introduced several support measures. The investigation discusses the effectiveness of the measures imposed. Based on theoretical foundations, the research question is empirically examined by using a qualitative expert survey. As the automotive industry plays a leading role in Slovakia, the research conducted is oriented towards the financing phases, a typical automotive exporter is undergoing. As a result of the research, bridging loans and government grants were identified as the most important measures. Additionally, tendencies towards political recommendations for action were identified. The research explored, that the Slovakian Government should focus on meeting the short-term liquidity needs, boosting exports and promoting innovation as well as considering a support package for the automotive industry.
The research paper provides important findings about the development, difficulties and perception of the support measures for exporters introduced by the Austrian government in times of COVID-19 crisis. Based on a literature review using secondary data, eight qualitative interviews were conducted with experts from the Austrian economy and government, among them the Austrian ECA ‘Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG’. To balance the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Austrian economy, a broad coverage with financing instruments for a wide range of target groups was established. Although the support measures have been well received by companies, insolvencies cannot completely be prevented. Nevertheless, the actual effects are not yet predictable and need to be assessed in further research at a later point in time.
In this work, the authors have dealt with the question of what measures have been taken by the Danish government to support exporters during the time of COVID-19. The analysis first looks at Denmark's general economic situation. In the following, Denmark's governmental and financial measures to support exporters are briefly explained. In addition to the economic and financial effects, the issue of green energy has also become a major focus of political attention in times of crisis. Denmark is a pioneer in the wind energy sector and accounts for a large share of exports. For this reason, the impact and possible future developments for the wind sector in connection with the pandemic are also being investigated.