Abstract
This study aims to investigate the impact of social distancing policies on SMEs in Indonesia. It used a quantitative method with a survey design. Respondents were all SMEs in Indonesia that are affected by social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. It involved a total of 587 SME samples selected randomly. The data were collected through observations, questionnaires, and literature studies. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with SPSS software to determine the mean value. The result showed that social distancing policies affect SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is indicated by the decreasing income and demand for SMEs products, and even some have no income (mean values of 2.40) due to the social distancing policies. Besides, the policy’s impact is also shown in the increasing cost of raw materials and production costs due to supply chain problems (mean values of 4.79). The policy’s impact raises anxiety for SMEs to survive so that business actors change their plans by utilizing information technology (mean values of 4.81). This change is a strategy to survive due to the impact of the applied policies. Although social distancing policies affect SMEs’ survival during the pandemic, research findings show that SMEs in Indonesia did not terminate employment (mean values of 4.37) due to the presence of economic stimulus policies that helped SMEs survive and grow during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
COVID-19 is a pandemic causing a global health emergency
This study focuses on the social distancing policy in which its implementation affects the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
The mean value in Indonesia affected by social distancing poli- was generated from subtracting the highest value cies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and these with the lowest value from the Likert scale and samples were randomly selected
Summary
COVID-19 is a pandemic causing a global health emergency. This pandemic does affect health and the global economy, including in Indonesia. The COVID-19 pandemic is extremely dangerous because of its quick transmission from person to person and causing death. It forces many countries to implement control policies. Control policies cover contact tracing, isolation, quarantine, social distancing, community detention, work from home, and large-scale social restrictions. This study focuses on the social distancing policy in which its implementation affects the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The social distancing policy is one of the recommended policies by the World Health Organization (WHO) to stop the transmission of this virus, and it has been applied in some countries. The social distancing policy requires the public to maintain distance and reduce activity in public places to stop the virus’s spread
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