The impact of the public sector on the quality of the business environment in the SME segment

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an essential part of every country's economic system. The quality of the business environment plays an important role in this regard. The aim of the paper was to define and quantify important public sector factors influencing the quality of the business environment in the SME segment and to compare the intensity of the defined factors between the Czech Republic (CR) and the Slovak Republic (SR). In regards to the defined aim, a survey-based research was conducted with enterprises operating in the SME segment. 312 enterprises in CR and 329 enterprises in SR were approached during this research. The scientific hypotheses were verified using the methods of Pearson statistics. The evaluation of political factors is quite negative in both countries. Only 15% of Czech and 20% of Slovak entrepreneurs positively evaluated the level of legislation in business. Both Czech and Slovak entrepreneurs see state's support of export quite positively. Only 12% of Czech and 22% of Slovak entrepreneurs positively evaluated the administrative burden on enterprises. Entrepreneurs in both countries claim that the state is unable to provide qualified workforce for businesses. Most significant differences between the two countries were found in the evaluation of state bureaucracy which the Slovak entrepreneurs evaluated more positively than their Czech counterparts. The results of the research show the need to deal with urgent issues, or create a better system of public factors influencing the business environment.

Perception of non-financial risk determinants in SMEs in Visegrad countries

“…In case of legal risks, it was discovered that more than 25% of SMEs in the Visegrad countries perceive frequent changes of the legal regulation as a legal risk. Similar results were obtained by Belas et al (2019) and Belas et al (2019a) whose findings confirm that entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia negatively evaluate the political factors of the business environment. This fact can discourage new entrepreneurs from doing business.…”

Global Well-Being and Economic Inequality

“…Economic inequalities are the most obvious, as they show different positions of people in the distribution of income, wealth, goods, including wages [10]. Although the basis of the distribution of income is based on the principles of global economic distribution, the issue of economy, welfare at country and individual level is imperative and can be centered on the policy of equal opportunities for all members of a society [11], [12], [13] If a state government decides to reduce the level of economic inequality [14], [15], it may apply a few sets of tools: (1) redistribution -from those with high incomes to those with low incomes; (2) the grid of opportunities widely available and (3) social responsibility. Redistribution involves taking from the income of those with higher incomes and supplementing the incomes of those with lower incomes [16].…”

Small Businesses in Cultural Tourism in a Central European Country

“…The quality of the business environment plays an important role (Belas, et al, 2019). The complex characteristics of the factors that determine the quality of the business environment are presented for example by Kozubíková and Kotasková, (2019).…”