Crisi economica da COVID-19 e misure di supporto pubblico alle imprese sociali. Un modello economico-aziendale di individuazione dei beneficiari

For decades the topic of corporate crises has been the subject of research by business economics scholars. However, the social enterprise crisis has not yet been adequately covered by theoretical and empirical analyses. Furthermore, the health crisis caused by Covid-19, with its negative repercussions on the entire economic system, brings out the need for studies focused on this issue also because of possible public funding to support social enterprises (SEs). Therefore, this paper investigates the criteria based on which the public decision-maker, considering SEs economic and financial situation, could financially support SEs. To do this, an analysis of the 2019 and 2020 financial statements of 1,167 social cooperatives was carried out by calculating the values of six ratios, three of which aim to verify the existence of a situation of financial balance, while the remaining three serve to verify the presence of a condition of economic balance. Thanks to such analysis, a matrix of financial and economic "health" was generated in which companies are classified into four categories based on the possible combinations given by the existence, or not, of economic equilibrium and financial equilibrium. Based on the categories identified, policy indications are proposed for the type of public support most suitable for Italian SEs.