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KDI 경제교육·정보센터

ENG
  • 경제배움
  • Economic

    Information

    and Education

    Center

최신자료
Unintended Consequences of Business Digitalization Among MSMEs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of the Philippines
ADB
2025.02.10
This paper investigates whether e-commerce use in the Philippines strengthened the performance of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and proposes policy actions.

The findings show that internet or e-commerce use did not lead to better MSME outcomes during the strict lockdown in March 2020. However, by August 2020, the negative effects had lessened, and by March 2021 a positive impact had emerged. This delayed positive impact suggests that MSMEs need a certain level of maturity to effectively harness digital tools. The authors propose how policymakers could help enhance the resilience of MSMEs in the Philippines through digitalization, such as by establishing a regulatory framework to ensure fair competition for MSMEs on digital platforms. The paper complements a previous study on data from Indonesia.