Abstract
This paper aims to identify the main factors that contributed to the crisis of Italian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) during the global economic downturn. The objective is to verify if the symptoms of the business crisis were already present in the three-year period 2006-2008, which precedes the year 2009, marked by the fall in Italian GDP. The sample is composed of 1,429 SMEs that initiated bankruptcy proceedings, or a preventive arrangement or debt restructuring agreement (continuity safeguard procedures), or opted for the dissolution and/or liquidation in the period 2009-2016. The results show that size and age of company are key variables, able to influence the ability to cope with the company crisis. In fact, the largest and most long-lasting firms started preventive arrangements or debt restructuring agreements, legal instruments aimed at business continuity.
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