Page 10 - Book of Abstracts 2021

Study 4 2021 Who supported their employees during the first wave of the pandemic? An analysis of the financial support granted through the Antivirus B programme April 2021 Study 4 / 2021 Who supported their employees during the first wave of the pandemic? An analysis of the financial support granted through the Antivirus B programme2 APRIL 2021 ŠTĚPÁN JURAJDA, PAVLA DOLEŽELOVÁ, LUCIE ZAPLETALOVÁ Summary • This study examines the structure of Czech firms’ use of the Antivirus B programme in the second quarter of 2020, i.e. during the first “spring wave” of the Covid-19 epidemic. We compare application of the programme benefits with the structure of the economy and with the structure of demand shocks, approximated by the drop in hours worked against those worked in the second quarter of 2019. The study provides an example of how this type of programme could be continuously monitored in the future. The study’s findings can be useful when making long term decisions about how to set up tools such as kurzarbeit in Czech legislation. • In total, 315,000 employees in companies with more than 10 employees received financial support fromthe Antivirus B programme in the second quarter of 2020. Expressed in FTE, this translates into support for more than 80,000 full time positions. For perspective, the number of registered unemployed individuals increased by approximately 80,000 between March 2020 and March 2021. 2 This study represents the authors’ own views and not the official position of the Czech Academy of Sciences Economics Institute nor of the Charles University Centre for Economic Research and Graduate Education (CERGE). We are grateful to Filip Pertold, for his valuable comments and advice. This research was supported by a grant from the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, Éta TL02000206 „System of quality of life measurement and assessment in the regional dimension in the Czech Republic“. The study was produced in collaboration with Trexima s r.o., and was published with support from the Czech Academy of Sciences as part of its AV21 Strategy. Any remaining inaccuracies or errors are the authors’ own. 3 BACK TO CONTENTS 8