The impact of policy response to Covid-19 on the transportation and storage sector in Visegrad Countries (V4)

Abstract

The paper is devoted to analysing national policy responses to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Visegrad countries (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) - on both the macroeconomic and microeconomic level. Focus is given to the transportation and storage sector (NACE Rev. 2 code H). The pandemic unevenly impacted this sector: while specific subsectors were thriving during this period (e.g. parcel delivery services), others were suffering due to abrupt mobility changes (e.g. public & individual mobility services). Public policies were presented not only as a tool to reduce the negative impact of the pandemic but also to provide a platform to build new competitive advantages for national business entities, thus providing the rationale for an analysis of the actual impact of programs aimed at the transportation and storage sector. The impact of the state-aid focusing on the analysed was uneven between the analysed countries. Even though, the deployed programs have helped the industry to return to pre-pandemic levels within 4 quarters. This proves that apart from the structure of state-aid programs and schemes, an important factor was the pre-pandemic value chains. This could serve as a starting point for further research as more data become available.