A key question confronting policy makers during economic crises is how they can support firms to maintain their performance levels until the economic storm has passed. The present study bridges insights from the ambidexterity and public policy literatures to examine how firm-internal responses (that is, ambidexterity) and external public policy incentives (that is, demand-pull policies) affect the stability of firms’ performance in a recessionary economic context. Using data from private German renewable energy firms at a time following the global financial crisis, we find that only firms with low ambidexterity achieve performance stability in light of demand-pull policies. This research draws attention to the relevance of stability as a policy-relevant performance measure during times of economic crises. Further, we suggest that greater insight into the interplay of managerial and political factors is necessary to enable policy makers to support the stability of certain industries during crises.

经济危机期间政策制定者面临的一个关键问题是，他们如何支持企业维持其绩效水平，直到经济风暴过去。本研究将二元性和公共政策文献的见解联系起来，以检验公司内部反应（即二元性）和外部公共政策激励（即需求拉动政策）如何影响公司在经济衰退中的业绩稳定性语境。在全球金融危机之后，使用来自德国私营可再生能源公司的数据，我们发现只有低二元性的公司才能在需求拉动政策下实现业绩稳定。本研究提请注意稳定性作为经济危机时期与政策相关的绩效衡量标准的相关性。进一步，