Enterprise ownership patterns in the least developed districts of Slovakia

Research background: The literature overview shows a blank space regarding the effects of ownership on the determination of enterprises' spatial distribution. Various papers identify differences between determinants of the spatial distribution of foreign direct investments, exporters in foreign ownership, and domestically owned exporters; however, they mostly agree on the role of big cities, economic centres, and state of infrastructure as well as historical patterns. Purpose of the article: The article focuses on the spatial distribution analysis of enterprise units from their owner's perspective on the empirical evidence from all 79 districts of the Slovak Republic. Special attention is given to the category of the least developed districts. Methods: Within the presented article, the authors investigate the characteristics of the regional spatial distribution of business entities concerning standard ownership categories using the cluster analysis. The presented approach is twofold: firstly, the authors investigate the share of individual ownership types on the district level, and secondly, the number of enterprises by ownership categories is adjusted to 100,000 inhabitants. Cluster analysis and methods of spatial statistics are applied in both approaches. Findings & value added: The main results show a relation between the district's inclusion into the group of the least developed districts and enterprise ownership characteristics in these districts mainly through the relative underrepresentation of the secluded inland, foreign and international types of ownership, as well as their geographical clustering. The results of the presented research can be used in policy-making targeting business activity in underdeveloped districts. At the same time, the results provide basis for limited theoretical generalisations based on a single-country case study with regard to principles of business ownership structures development.

Does the real estate market behavior predict the trust crisis in the financial sector? The case of the ECB and the Euro

Research background: Based on the history of financial crises, real estate market behavior could be thought of as a key benchmark of trust shifts in the financial sector of the economy. Plunging real estate asset prices accompanied by the financial "bubbles" explosion could be viewed as the harbinger ? even the cause ? of the public trust crash in the financial sector. Purpose of the article: This study intends to assess the extent to which the real estate market behavior determinants, along with financial sector consumers' feelings, are able to predict trust crises in the financial sector, namely to its primary institutions ? European Central Bank and the Euro. Methods: In order to estimate the probability of a trust crisis in the financial sector, two logistic regression logit models were developed based on two types of dependent variables as they reflect trust violations in the financial system primary institutions ? net trust in European Central Bank (Model I) and net support for the Euro (Model II). The research was conducted on quarterly panel data of the EU countries from the euro area covering the period from 2000 to 2019. Logit regressions employed for data processing and analysis were performed in the computational system STATISTICA. Findings & value added: The logit-modeling results show that determinants of irrational real estate buyers' behavior are powerless in predicting the escalation of the trust crisis in the Euro. However, binary models of real estate market behavior could be successfully used to predict the probability of the trust crisis in the European Central Bank. The results show that real house price indices, price to income ratio, price to rent ratio, and rent prices accompanied by the financial sector consumers' feelings are statistically significant, providing the best distribution between the normal times and periods of trust crisis in the European Central Bank. Irrational real estate market behavior may indicate serious problems in the trust violations in the European Central Bank, and it should be a signal for policymakers to take actions towards more efficient financial and real estate market regulation following the behavioral approach.

The role of financial constraint factors in predicting SME default

Research background: SMEs face financial constraints in their development, which limits their access to external funds, tightens their investment possibilities, and limits their growth. Much research effort has been devoted to understanding the nature and sources of this phenomenon. In sharp contrast to this, very little has been said about the role of these factors in explaining the default probability of these types of enterprises. Understanding such interrelationships could help to adopt policies to alleviate the situation of constrained SMEs and lower their default rates. Purpose of the article: This study analyses the role of financial constraint factors in SME defaults. This is done by utilising the financial constraint factors in a newly derived default prediction model. A comparison of the derived model and other SME default prediction models is carried out to assess the potential of financial constraints in the discrimination power of the model. Methods: In this study, we use the Cox semiparametric model, while leaving the baseline hazard rate unspecified and employing macroeconomic variables as explanatory variables. The discrimination power was addressed in terms of the area under the curve (AUC), resulting in out-of-sample testing. The DeLong test was used to compare the AUC of the created and analysed models. The model was estimated on a set of over 213,731 SMEs from 28 counties, covering the period 2014?2019. Findings & value added: It was found that adopting the financial constraint measures can explain the default of small and medium enterprises with high accuracy; however, they do not explain the default of micro enterprises.

Unemployment and new firm formation: evidence from Polish industries at the regional level

Research background: The present study takes the regional economics perspective to explaining new firm registrations. It focuses on the driving role of unemployment rate in the process of new business formation. Purpose of the article: The main goal of the study is to investigate the effect of regional unemployment (next to other regional characteristics) on subsequent new business formation in Polish regions for the period 2003?2018. The research hypothesis assumes that a rise in unemployment rate has a positive effect on subsequent new business formation. The positive unemployment push effect is expected to be stronger in operational services. Methods: In order to verify the links between unemployment rates and entrepreneurship, panel data methods (fixed effect Driscoll-Kraay and p-VAR estimators) were applied. The analyses were performed at the industry level (manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail, hotels and restaurants, and financial services) using regional annual data for the period 2003?2018. Findings & value added: This study provides further insight into the unemployment push hypothesis by distinguishing between industry sectors and by considering regional specificities in post-communist economies (e.g. Poland). The findings provide value for policy-makers regarding the selection of policy instruments intended to stimulate regional development through entrepreneurship in lagged areas.

Cooperation of enterprises in innovative activities on the example of Polish regions

Research background: Cooperation is an indispensable element of innovation activities of enterprises. Undertakings in innovation, by nature, require not only significant expenditures or creative human capital, but also cooperation with other enterprises, scientific institutions, and the business environment. Cooperating companies have a greater chance to compete in the international arena while building the innovative potential of the regional environment. Stimulating the permanent cooperation of enterprises operating in the region, in its various forms, is a key challenge for central government authorities, local government authorities, and other actors in social and economic life. The existing literature on the cooperation of enterprises focuses on the motives of cooperation and their effects, but to a lesser extent on the spatial similarity of these processes, i.e. in individual regions of the country. Purpose of the article: The purpose of the article is to diagnose and evaluate regional differences in the level of cooperation between companies conducting innovation activities in Poland. The study used data on innovation activities published by Statistics Poland and data on enterprises participating in cluster cooperation published by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. Methods: The cluster analysis was used, allowing to identify voivodeships that are similar to each other in terms of the analyzed phenomenon. The spatial classification of voivodeships was performed using the Ward method, which is classified as hierarchical and is often used to group objects. The result is a hierarchical tree that groups the regions in increasingly larger clusters. Findings & value added: The results indicate a low level of cooperation and the existence of significant differences in the cooperation of enterprises as part of innovation activities in Polish regions. The low level of cooperation between companies in individual regions corresponds to the number of marketed innovations. There are similarities between some regions in terms of cooperation on innovation activities. The results of the analysis may provide an indication for national and European Union economic policy entities in the field of creating instruments to support the cooperation of companies on innovation activities.

Technological progress spillover effect in Lithuanian manufacturing industry

Research background: Various methods for technological progress assessment and evaluation exist in the context of economic development. Each of the methods possesses distinct advantages and disadvantages in analysis of technological progress fluctuations. For most neoclassical growth theories, technological progress measures are included as exogenous variables, thus excluding evaluation of factors influencing technological progress variation throughout time. Purpose of the article: The aim of this article is to offer improvements on classical technological progress evaluation methodologies for manufacturing industries, separating effect of intersectoral technological progress spillover effect from internal factors influencing technological progress growth and perform analysis in the case of Lithuanian manufacturing industry. Methods: Earlier research papers used linear time series regression and vector autoregression methods to assess technological progress values and define equations explaining effect of different manufacturing level indicators on technological progress measure growth. This research paper uses results of previously mentioned methods and performs simulation analysis applying agent-based modelling framework. Findings & value added: The conducted vector autoregression analysis has showed that two variables which influence technological progress most significantly are labor productivity measure and gross profit value. Sensitivity analysis emphasizes that effect of these two variables on technological progress growth is substantially different. Increase in gross profit value affects technological progress growth for wider range of sectors from Lithuanian manufacturing industry (15 out of 18 analyzed sectors? technological progress measure values are affected by changes in gross profit, while changes in labor productivity influence technological progress values in the case of 9 sectors). Rising gross profit values also produce intersectoral technological progress spillover effect more significantly, while growth in labor productivity measure has stronger effect on technological progress fluctuations for sectors which are able to exploit this effect. Presented research suggests improved methodology for intersectoral technological progress spillover effect assessment in the context of manufacturing industries.

Relationship between corporate sustainability performance and corporate financial performance: evidence from U.S. companies

Research background: Sustainable development at the enterprise level is understood as the integration of economic, environmental and social dimensions aimed at meeting the needs of all firm?s stakeholders in the present and in the future. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the relationship between economic, environmental and social sustainability performance of a company and its financial performance. Purpose of the article: Considering the business model for sustainability as well as the debatable results of empirical research on the relationship between corporate sustainability performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP), the essential aim of the paper is to answer the question whether the improvement of corporate sustainability performance in its all particular dimensions brings about higher total revenues (TR) of a company. Methods: The main method of empirical research is panel regression models based on Cobb-Douglas production function, which has been extended to include variables of corporate sustainability scores. The selection between pooled OLS model, random-effects model and fixed-effects model has been made with the use of the F test, the Breusch-Pagan test and the Hausman test. Additionally, descriptive statistics and the Pearson correlation coefficients have been analyzed. The empirical studies were conducted in the period 2014?2019 among the 59 largest U.S. companies listed in the Fortune 500 ranking between 2015?2020. Findings & value added: The research hypothesis assuming the existence of positive relationship between corporate sustainability performance (CSP) at both aggregate and disaggregate levels and corporate financial performance (CFP) expressed by TR cannot be positively verified. It means that the improvement of corporate sustainability performance in environmental, social and governance dimensions does not lead to an increase in TR of a company, as some empirical studies suggest.

Comparison of changes in the labour markets of post-communist countries with other EU member states

strengthen their international competitiveness. This was linked to the implementation of institutional and economic reforms, significant technological changes and improvements in the quality of human capital, as well as fiscal stabilisation policies. These changes affected their situation in the labour market. Purpose of the article: The aim of the study is to assess changes in the situation in the labour market in the EU with particular emphasis on the post-communist countries in the period 2002? 2019. Methods: The situation of countries in the European labour market was estimated using the TOPSIS method. A similarity matrix of changes in the composite variable for each country was then constructed using the Dynamic Time Warping method. On its basis, homogeneous clusters of countries were determined using the Ward?s method. Findings & value added: Four homogenous clusters of countries were formed. The post-communist ones belonged to two groups. In one, there were two countries ? Croatia and Slovakia. The rest of the post-communist countries were in a large cluster, which also included Germany, Malta, Finland, Portugal, France and Belgium. Changes of the situation in the post-communist countries in this group improved very much during the analysed period (this was particularly evident for Czechia, Estonia and Poland). It is interesting to investigate whether the reaction of labour markets to changes in the global economic situation in post-communist countries is similar to that in the old EU countries. The similarity of changes can be measured using the DTW method. There is an empirical research gap in this respect. Therefore, the added value is the use of this method in assessing similarities of changes in the labour market situation in post-communist countries in comparison to the Western European ones.

Ecological and economic multicriteria optimization of operating alternative propulsion vehicles within the city of Ostrava in the Czech Republic

Research background: Individual car transport significantly burdens the environment, especially in the centres of large cities. There is pollution, traffic jams and an increase in overall noise. In the area of passenger car transport, legislation is being significantly tightened. Therefore, there are also increasing demands on public transport operators in the Czech Republic. Previously, most of the fleet consisted of diesel vehicles. These have been gradually replaced by drives that are significantly more environmentally friendly, such as the Compressed natural gas drive. The requirements defined in relation to the reduction of vehicle emissions are increasingly stricter. A number of cities, not only within the European Union, are addressing significant issues concerning the future of public transport. Purpose of the article: The main objective of the article is to demonstrate an in-depth analysis of the operation of transport vehicles in the Statutory City of Ostrava, both from the cost and environmental point of view. The comparison of transport means using CNG, electric and diesel propulsion is made. Specific factors such as the route profile or the environmental impact of the mode of transport are also taken into account. The extent of the data processed and the multidimensional nature of the assessment offer a unique analysis of the problem. The article provides an exact view of the advantages and disadvantages of operating specific means of transport. Everything is based on data on transport operations in the city of Ostrava (the Czech Republic, EU). Methods: The comprehensive evaluation is based on the application of methods from the field of financial accounting, evaluation of measured data from the operation of transport means and, last but not least, on the analysis of empirical data from the given area. The analysed data set is unique due to the time period, as is the multi-criteria evaluation methodology. Findings & value added: The analysis performed demonstrated the economic viability of operating CNG vehicles. The main added value of the article is the unique multi-criteria evaluation procedure for the vehicles. The paper shows the evaluation of a complex decision problem in the transport field in the form of a case study implemented in the city of Ostrava. The evaluation results then consider both cost and environmental factors, which can be described as a comprehensive and highly innovative approach. The defined assessment can then be applied to other European and world metropolises.

Comparative analysis of Poland and selected countries in terms of household financial behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic

Research background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reduction in income or the total loss of jobs have affected the financial behaviour of consumers worldwide. Managing the budget in times of turbulence and crisis has posed a challenge for households. Purpose of the article: The aim of the article is to determine to what extent the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the financial behaviour of the inhabitants of various countries and how Poland has stood out from the rest. Methods: Due to the orderly nature of the questions analysed, non-parametric tests were used in the analysis. The distribution of current expenditure in comparison with the period before the pandemic was analysed, as well as the results of comparative analyses with Mann-Whitney U tests for comparison of Poland with Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France (974), Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the USA. A study was carried out on the relationship between planning for the future, having debts and savings and financial behaviour after the COVID-19 pandemic and the metric variables in the group of Poles via Chi square and a series of ? Kendall?s tests. Findings & value added: There has been a fall in expenditure compared to the period before the pandemic, which may explain the lack of opportunities to spend money, the fall in revenue and the freezing of expenditure for fear of an uncertain future. There has also been a change in the way payments are made. Payment cards and purchases made over the Internet are increasingly popular. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are trying to save more, but not everyone can afford to do so. Long-term value added of this paper is analysis of change in the model of financial behavior of households under the shock of the pandemic in international comparisons of the analysed countries.