Marian Holienka

Senior Entrepreneurship in the Perspective of European Entrepreneurial Environment

Abstract This paper studies the relationship between senior entrepreneurship propensity (entrepreneurship of the elderly) and national entrepreneurial context, in the European countries that exhibit either high or low levels of senior entrepreneurship. We focus on European countries that participated in Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in 2013. We use GEM data as the main data source for our analysis. Firstly, we analyse the propensity of senior entrepreneurship on the national level, in order to create two clusters (high and low ones) based on the senior entrepreneurial activity. These clusters are then studied separately, compared and analysed based on their entrepreneurial environment. In order to assess the state of the national entrepreneurial environment, we use the GEM evaluation of key Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions, which are evaluated by GEM National Expert Survey. We thereafter compare the quality and profile of entrepreneurial environment based on the framework conditions in each of the created clusters and study similarities and differences both within the clusters and between them. In the further analysis, we investigate which of the entrepreneurial conditions and to what extent might play the role in influencing the senior entrepreneurial activity propensity in both high-activity and low-activity clusters.

Institutions and Entrepreneurial Environment in Visegrad Four Countries and Finland

The main aim of the paper is to point out the differences in entrepreneurial environment institutional frameworks between the Visegrad four countries (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary—V4) and Finland. The comparison of institutions affecting entrepreneurship was based on creation and analysis of institutional profiles comprising of four pillars essential to understand the emergence of entrepreneurship—regulative, cognitive, normative and conducive dimensions. Our results suggest that entrepreneurial environment in V4 countries substantially differs from that of Finland. V4 countries lack in development of regulative attributes as well as in conducive dimension crucial for innovative entrepreneurship. Subsequently, different quality of environment is reflected in different quality of business activity, and its allocation between independent entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship.

Independent Economic Regulation for Efficient and Fair Business: Case Study of Utilities Sector in Slovakia

Independent economic regulation is one of the key preconditions to establish rules of the game enabling and encouraging efficient and fair business. Problematic independence, leading to unfair, unpredictable and politically influenced regulatory decisions, increases costs of compliance with such institutional framework, which negatively influences the overall efficiency of economic activities. The aim of this paper is to discuss the problematic independence of economic regulation, illustrated on a case study on a regulatory office in Slovakia, and to provide concrete suggestions how the independence of economic regulation can be improved in its de jure as well as de facto dimensions. The case study deals with the recent case of Slovakia’s Regulatory Office for Network Industries that in late 2016 and early 2017 served as a good example of problematic independence of economic regulation both from politicians and the business sector. The case highlights the main system deficiencies in all relevant contexts, from legislation through its implementation and enforcement, to political, business and overall culture. Therefore, the case serves as a valuable learning basis, on which we build recommendations for improvements of independence of economic regulation, that are so much needed not only in the national context, but also in the context of most CEE economies.

Entrepreneurship Development in Slovakia

In this chapter the main trends in entrepreneurial dynamics and development of entrepreneurial environment in Slovakia over the last 5 years are analyzed. Generally, entrepreneurship in Slovakia is characterized by relatively high levels of entrepreneurial activity throughout all its types and phases of the entrepreneurial process. However, the overall high activity is unevenly distributed across age groups and genders. Thus, a specific attention in this chapter is also paid to inclusivity of entrepreneurship, with the main focus on disadvantaged groups such as women, youth, and seniors. Also, entrepreneurial environment in the country, despite some favorable conditions, shows generally insufficient support of entrepreneurial activity. Moreover, societal attitudes and cultural and social norms related to entrepreneurship do not stimulate but rather inhibit individuals from engagement in entrepreneurial efforts. In the following paragraphs, we provide a closer analysis of the abovementioned trends and develop recommendations for policy makers to tackle them.

Entrepreneurial Environment and Economic Growth: What Affects the Productiveness of Business Activity at Macro Level?

The purpose of this article is to define the factors of the entrepreneurial environment which could drive productive entrepreneurial activity from the macro-economic perspective. The main research question therefore is to identify, what are the main environmental drivers of productive entrepreneurial activity and what is its effective sectorial structure. Our analysis is based on 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data obtained through an adult population survey and national expert survey. In our investigation we employ PATH-analysis, SEM model and multiple regression analysis to empirically define the effective structure of entrepreneurial activity for the performance of an economy and the environmental factors that impact it. This approach empirically examines the directions of influence in the above mentioned relationships. In addition, the robustness of our findings was checked by repeating our analysis on a different sample (2010 GEM data on 59 economies) and by multiplying regression analysis for separate variables of entrepreneurial activity effectiveness, and our results were confirmed. Our findings suggest that of all the different environmental enablers, access to infrastructure (both physical and commercial) is the most influential attribute of entrepreneurial environment affecting economic performance at a macro level and the effective sectorial structure of business activities. Overall, the main drivers of the productiveness of entrepreneurship are: access to infrastructure, rule of law, effective government programs and market openness and dynamics.

The Influence of Intellectual Capital Performance on Value Creation in Slovak SMEs

The intellectual capital has been stressed to play a crucial role in determining firm performance in current knowledge economies. Theoretical works as well as several empirical studies have declared its importance as a value creation driver. The aim of our study is to challenge these paradigms in the context of SMEs in Slovakia. Therefore, we examine the relationship between intellectual capital (measured using financial data through VAICTM) and firm value creation (using the ROCE measure as the most appropriate value creation proxy in this context). Also, we control for the effect of firm size and leverage in this relation. We based our analysis on 2011 financial statements of 3311 Slovak SMEs operating in ten different industrial sections. The data have been obtained from a business information portal (CRIBIS Universal Register). To examine the relation between intellectual capital and value creation while accounting for industry effects we constructed a set of regression models and analysed the explanatory power of intellectual capital performance in firm value creation. Our results suggest, that intellectual capital performance represents a significant value creation driver in each of the examined industries, and its explanatory power exceeds in all cases but one the explanatory power of control variables. Therefore, our results confirm the paradigm of intellectual capital importance for value creation also in the context of small and medium size companies (SMEs) in Slovakia.

Business Restart in Visegrad Countries

The main goal of our paper is to analyse business restarts in Visegrad countries on an individual level and to identify key drivers of restart activity from among perceptual variables. The analysis is based on Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data. We employ descriptive statistics to analyse the quantitative aspect of business restart and regression modelling to identifyits drivers. Our findings proved that business discontinuation and consequent restart are both integral parts of entrepreneurship in V4 countries. Entrepreneurial selfefficacy and fear of failure, together with gender andage, proved to have a significant relationship with individual restart activity. The individual perceptual variables as components of entrepreneurial potential, as well as the issue of inclusiveness, proved to play an important role in business restart. Our study is the first comprehensive analysis of the under-researched topic of business restart in the V4 region. In addition to highlighting its importance as an integral part of entrepreneurial dynamics in V4 countries, it also identifies individual-level drivers of this specifictype of entrepreneurial activity.