ABSTRACT
PurposeThis study aims to investigate the resilience of Italian companies one year after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak by examining the companies' choices and opinions regarding the welfare state, criminal approaches and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) during the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors proposed a conceptual framework based on a combination of private vs public protection and business resilience theory and adopted a concurrent embedded mixed-method approach, using an online survey of 219 entrepreneurs.FindingsThe authors find the respondents showing high resilience to the crisis and strongly unaffected by organised crime's (OC's) predatory role;the State seems to have quickly and effectively met the financial needs of sampled Italian companies, at least in the short term.Practical implicationsWhilst welfare can be highly effective for companies to combat crime, regulators should recognise that public protection may decrease with time, leaving companies open to long-term challenges.Originality/valueThe authors believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the entrepreneurship literature because this is the first study to explore how entrepreneurs deal with financing problems in a context characterised by a strong impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and OC pressure.