Entrepreneurs Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis: from Powerlessness in the Face of the Government’s Policies to Protests

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic triggered a crisis affecting many spheres of socio-economic life. Both the authorities and entrepreneurs found themselves in a new and unusual situation. The lockdown introduced in the Polish economy in March 2020 has changed drastically environment and conditions for entrepreneurs and companies in Poland. The article touches on the problem of changes in the system of formal and informal institutions during that period. An attempt was made to answer the question: to what extent was the institutional state order compatible with the spontaneous order during that period, did the paths of entrepreneurs and the government meet and an agreement was reached in the name of setting a common policy direction to support the economy in the difficult period of the pandemic, or did the paths of these parties diverge?

Keywords

• crisis
• covid-19 pandemic
• entrepreneurs
• institutional order
• institutional balance
• formal institutions
• informal institutions