Big global companies actually struggled way more during the pandemic than the smaller, local shops down the street.
March 27, 2026
Original Paper
Did international exposure help large Polish companies get out of the COVID-19 pandemic?
SSRN · 6467296
The Takeaway
While internationalization is usually seen as a way to diversify risk and increase stability, this study of the largest Polish firms found that international exposure actually increased vulnerability to exogenous shocks. Domestic firms were better able to pivot and even accelerated their export growth while globalized firms struggled to recover.
From the abstract
Despite accumulated evidence and increasing theoretical understanding of the effects of internationalization on the ways companies were coping with the major exogenous shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is very limited knowledge on the final outcome of this battle, i.e. their strength and performance when direct COVID-19-related adverse events and restrictions stopped.To fill this gap, we use a unique dataset covering the largest 2000 Polish companies. Company resilience is measured by