COVID-19 placed a special role to fiscal policy in rescuing companies short of liquidity from insolvency. In the first months of the crisis, SMEs as the backbone of Europe’s real economy benefited from large and mainly indiscriminate aid measures. Avoiding business failures in a whatever it...

This paper examines the post-pandemic performance of micro, small, and medium-sized firms using Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs), a type of Artificial Neural Network that groups patterns based on their similarities. The goal is to identify the key characteristics that enable firms to face market...

In 2012, disparities were observed among the financial positions of French firms. Activity slowed down, profits fell and the rise in equity was smaller than in 2011. Nevertheless, firms’ financial structures improved and their cash position reached a 15-year high.

Companies in France benefited from the economic recovery in 2010 and generated higher profit levels. But this improvement did not offset the declines of the two previous years and significant disparities persist.

The 2008 crisis dealt a severe blow to SMEs, and they are still struggling to get back to the growth rates seen before the global turmoil. After improving slightly between 2010 and 2011, profit margins have since deteriorated again, placing a drag on investment. Nonetheless, since 2010, SMEs...

The pick-up in business in 2010 enabled SMEs to improve their profits and to build their equity, even if there were substantial disparities across companies. Increasing cash holdings and low investment are characteristic of cautious behaviour.

In 2011, improved turnover did not translate into better earnings for French companies with margins levelling off profitability contracting. Balance-sheet structures remained generally solid, but showed signs of deterioration.

Payemnt periods shortened in 2009. The decline is no longer due entirely to SMEs; it now concerns MTEs a well as large companies. It generates cash earnings, chiefly for SMEs.

In 2009, French firms saw a sharp drop in business, particularly export sales. Their response to the crisis and their prudence enabled them to preserve their financial structure relatively well. In a very cautious environment, there was a sharp decline in investment. The situations of individual...