Ján Dvorský

The aim of this article is to define and quantify the significant factors (social environment, access to the financial resources and macroeconomic environment), which determine the perception of the entrepreneurial propensity of students for starting a new business in the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Poland in academic year 2016/2017. Empirical research was realized through questionnaire on the basis of 1,352 students (more than 1%level of significance) of the economic universities in the last year of their study in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Poland. The statistical hypotheses were verified using multiple linear regression modelling. The results showed that the entrepreneurial propensity of students in all countries is mostly affected by the social environment. Czech students gave the social environment higher impact on the entrepreneurial propensity for starting a new business than Polish and Slovak students. The results indicate that access to the financial resources is also important for the entrepreneurial propensity of students in the Czech Republic. As for Polish and Slovak students, the access to the financial resources is not a significant factor to the entrepreneurial propensity in their countries. The results having been processed are the basic information for the academic community, public sector, ministry of education in the country, and other organizations whose effort is to help the students to start a new business in her/his country.

The article aims to determine the difference in the perception of selected business risks and their impact on the future of business concerning the entrepreneur’s experience with business bankruptcy. The case study involved 73 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with experience of business bankruptcy and 381 SMEs without the experience of business bankruptcy from the Czech Republic (CR). Linear regression models were used to verify statistically significant causal relationships between selected indicators of the most significant business risks and respondents’ perceptions of the future of business. The results brought interesting findings. The attitudes of entrepreneurs show that personnel, market, and financial risk are among the three most significant business risks. Experience with business failure is not a significant factor in determining the impact of market indicators on the business’s perceived future. The adequacy of sales of services and products has the greatest impact. The experience of the bankruptcy of SMEs is important in financial risk attitudes. According to entrepreneurs who have no experience with bankruptcy, the perception of financial performance has the greatest direct impact on the future of business. Conversely, for entrepreneurs who have experienced bankruptcy, the ability to properly manage financial risk on the company’s future has the greatest direct impact.