Braking before the curve and accelerating inside? Exploration, countercyclical behavior, and SMEs’ resilience during economic downturns

Some studies have provided empirical evidence that firms’ high growth rates just before economic crises are negatively associated with resilience. Other authors observed firms grow fast in the early phases of an external crisis generally more resilient. This countercyclical behavior is less common small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), literature has not delved into underlying factors facilitate SMEs’ strategies. Firm exploration defined as a firm’s willingness to experiment, take risks, be flexible, accept variation. Our thesis acts factor by slowing down shock takes effect, favoring during crisis, providing better resilience outcomes. We find support for our hypotheses from sample 2,081 manufacturing enterprises. Jel Classification: M10 GENERAL