Anti-crisis activities and export performance in the Covid-19 pandemic : the case of Polish exporters

Objective: The article aims to investigate the impact of anti-crisis activities undertaken by the Polish exporting firms on their export sales during the Covid-19 pandemic. Research Design & Methods: In our study, we used a quantitative research design. We conducted the survey on the sample of 161 manufacturing Polish exporting firms between April 21 and June 25, 2021. To verify the assumed relationships, we used the probit regression model. Findings: We found that some firm key features, such as firm size, the territorial scope of international activity, the share of foreign ownership in assets, the degree of innovation, and the presence of a market diversification strategy significantly impacted export sales during the pandemic. The results also suggest that a temporary reduction in employment, the sale of new/adapted products, and the search for new foreign export partners strongly supported the sales growth of Polish exporters during the Covid-19 pandemic. Implications & Recommendations: This study can be valuable for researchers, managers, and policymakers. First, we highlight activities that promote export/sales during the pandemic period, which can be helpful for both researchers and policymakers in creating support tools for exporters. Second, managers may gain valuable lessons on the importance of having an internationalisation strategy and marketing strategies in place during demand and supply shocks. Contribution & Value Added: The main novelty is a firm-level analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic impact on exporting firms from the perspective of the anti-crisis activities they undertook, which fills a gap in the literature and informs discussions of the potential impact of Covid-19 on export performance.