Differences in the financial structure of Slovak and Czech enterprises operating in machinery manufacturing and equipment industry

Abstract

The paper offers a thorough study of the selected factors influencing the financial structure of Slovak and Czech companies operating in the machinery and equipment industry. These factors were broken down into internal factors (profitability, company size, liquidity, assets' structure, business risk, non-debt tax shield and company's age) and the external factors (economic cycle, inflation, interest rate and tax rate). The aim of the paper was to analyze, evaluate and assess whether there were differences in the influence of these factors (i.e. different direction and intensity of their impact) on the financial structure of Slovak and Czech enterprises. The analysis was done for the years 2014-2018. The multiple regression analysis was used as the main research method. The research results pointed to the fact that the financial structure of Slovak and Czech companies was affected mainly by the influence of internal corporate factors, and moreover, there were also certain differences between Slovak and Czech enterprises-not only in intensity but even in the direction of action of these factors. Given the internal structure of financing sources and based on our findings, our recommendations were that in the area of financial structure of enterprises, they should focus their attention primarily on corporate liquidity (Slovak enterprises in particular). At the same time, it was clear that the government policy should focus on improving law enforcement in trade relations and also improving the protection of creditors' rights, as business loans were the most used external sources of funding.