Gentjan Çera,

Tomas Bata University in Zlín,

Zlín, Czech Republic

E-mail: cera@utb.cz

Linking firm characteristics to perceived important social factors for entrepreneurial activity

Jaroslav Belas,

Tomas Bata University in Zlín,

Zlín, Czech Republic

E-mail: belas111@gmail.com

Zoltan Rozsa,

Alexander Dubcek University in Trencin,

Trencin, Slovak Republic

E-mail: zoltan.rozsa@tnuni.sk

Martin Cepel,

Pan-European University,

Bratislava, Slovak Republic

E-mail: martin.cepel@paneurouni.com

Abstract. This study seeks to investigate the linkages between firm characteristics (firm age and size) and perceived important social factors for entrepreneurship. The research is administered on a firm-level data collection through a survey. The paper uses principal component analysis and non-parametric methods, including a post-hoc test to examine the above linkages within an original dataset of 641 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The results reveal that the perceived important social factors have a negative association with firm age and a positive one with firm size. Therefore, younger firms are more vulnerable to these factors as compared with their older counterparts. However, larger firms demonstrated perceived higher social factors, as compared with smaller ones. This research contributes to enriching literature by providing insights on the associations of firm characteristics and social factors for entrepreneurship in Central European context. Understanding factors which shape entrepreneurship within SME sector allows adjusting and designing policies aiming to boost entrepreneurship for certain groups of firms.

Received: January, 2019

1st Revision: September, 2019

Accepted: November, 2019

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2019/12-4/6

JEL Classification: A13, L26, O17

Keywords: entrepreneurship, SME, firm age, firm size, social factors, institutions, Central Europe