It is clear that the massive state assistance from governments has frozen the situation of many companies and led to an unprecedented and artificial fall in business insolvencies worldwide during 2020. The phasing out of state supports still depends on pandemic uncertainty. Yet, albeit gradually and orderly, it will trigger a return to a normalised number of insolvencies with two kinds of insolvencies: those of companies that were no longer viable before the crisis but were kept afloat by emergency measures, and those of companies weakened by the crisis, due to over-indebtedness or under-capitalisation.
Under normal conditions, a wide range of factors influence the severity, penetration and level of supply chain risk achieved by the insolvency domino effect.
- For example, while there is market liquidity and access to credit, the impact can be less pronounced.
- It also depends on the extent to which companies and sectors rely heavily on any given organisation before it goes bust. If reliance on a business is high – the famous sales or supply concentration factor – then the insolvency risk will be high too and the effect can be dramatic.
- Surprise is another key factor. If you are able to predict that a player will encounter difficulties you can mitigate or even prevent losses before they happen. On the other hand, if events take place at speed or on a very large scale with long supply chain or long payment terms across the chain, the corporate insolvency domino effect is potentially heightened.
