Etla’s study: Tens of thousands of jobs were preserved in Koronatu

Coronated more than 40,000 jobs were preserved in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent study by the Finnish Economic Research Institute Etla.

According to Etla, most of the jobs were preserved with the help of Business Finland’s disruption financing. However, the support reduced labor productivity, which has negative consequences for future productivity development and economic growth, Etla points out.

The support granted by Ely centers to small companies also preserved jobs, and it also had a positive effect on the companies’ work productivity.

“The subsidies granted at the beginning of the pandemic seem to play a key role specifically in terms of preserving jobs. The permanent cost support system, on the other hand, reduced company bankruptcies,” Etla’s research manager Olli Ropponen says in the announcement.

Corona subsidies have also been able to bring a competitive advantage to some companies and thus distort competition, the release states.

When looking at the profit margins, Etla found that competition has intensified, especially among those companies that did not receive corona subsidies.

However, the effects of subsidies on competition are very industry-specific.

In several industrial sectors and in the repair, installation and maintenance sectors, the profit margins of companies that received subsidies increased and those without subsidies decreased, which suggests that the subsidies may have distorted competition.

In catering, on the other hand, competition intensified, especially between the companies that received corona subsidies.