Firm financial performance during the financial crisis: A French case study

This study investigates the effect of the 2008 financial crisis on the corporate performance of 805 French firms over the period of 2007–2009. This research uses both ordinary least squares (OLS) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to estimate this relationship. The OLS results show no impact of the regional gross domestic product per capita on profitability, whereas the fsQCA suggests several paths for corporate performance. The study offers two principal contributions. Firstly, it takes into account region specificities to assess the impact of the financial crisis on firm performance. Secondly, the study combines an innovative analytical approach, fsQCA, with multivariate regression analysis to analyse firm performance.