The Role of Education, Individual and Economic Factors in Entrepreneurial Initiatives

Business Administration and Management THE ROLE OF EDUCATION, INDIVIDUAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS IN ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES: A MICROECONOMIC APPROACH FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA AND POLAND Yuriy Bilan, Mihaela Simionescu, Grzegorz Mentel, Zoltan Rozsa

Introduction environment. Some conditions for enhancement The purpose of this research is to assess the of innovations are related to new ideas, impact of university education and business facilitating access to resources, accepting environment on entrepreneurial initiatives and trial errors and failures, and promoting to make comparisons of the results between multidisciplinary teamwork. All fi rms need new students coming from Poland, the Czech business ideas to stay relevant at the market. Republic and Slovakia. These countries The emergence of a new market might support were selected for the analysis since these overall growth. Entrepreneurs should come up are three of the V4 countries with common with new ideas for maximizing relationships targets regarding the development of business with suppliers as well as with consumers. environment and with an important location After a theoretical background, this paper advantage. The International Visegrad Fund continues with the description of methods promotes mutual cooperation within the region and main empirical results. Discussion and in various fi elds, including the development comparison with the previous studies on of economic relations (in tourism, education, similar topics are also presented. The last part scientifi c research, cross-border cooperation). contains the conclusions that synthesize the This Fund also implements own projects in main fi ndings of this complex research. these fi elds. The importance of the research The paper is based on the empirical analysis is justifi ed by the identifi cation of the factors of the student samples that were selected from that mostly affect entrepreneurial initiatives; the population in Business and Economic these factors could be developed more in Studies from each country. Suitable statistical order to increase the number of successful tools were applied in order to achieve the businesses in each of these country. Moreover, objective of the research: Kendall’s coeffi cient some obstacles to entrepreneurial initiatives of association, Kruskall-Wallis test and are identifi ed and suitable recommendations multinomial logistic regression. The variables are provided to minimize these obstacles. The that infl uence the entrepreneurial initiatives benefi ts of entrepreneurship are related to new were chosen according to the theoretical technological innovation, creation of new jobs, background from previous literature. and competitiveness growth (Zahra, 1999; Even if there is an approach that considers Ivanová & Čepel, 2018). Companies could also entrepreneurship as inherent behavior play an essential role in economic growth and (Thompson, 1999), another approach considers national welfare provision (Prasetyo, 2016). it more like an attitude that could be learned Entrepreneurship supports the economy by through education and could be stimulated ensuring the spread of innovations with real through certain support (Vican & Vuletic, advantages for entrepreneurs themselves. 2013; Glaub et al., 2014; Karimi et al., 2014; A company should stimulate employees Sanchez-Garcia et al., 2018). Entrepreneurship to innovate by ensuring the right working education is also promoted and supported

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by the European Union in order to grow Marti as a business for which fi nancial benefi ts the number of companies (Kolbre et al., 2006) are not the main objective of managers (Mair and the countries selected for our study are & Marti, 2006; Kliestik et al., 2015). The role also EU members, making efforts to follow the of family in supporting the launch of business EU requirements in part of having an attractive is explained by Zachary et al. (2017) and Le business environment. Breton-Miller and Miller (2017), who showed In this paper, we will combine two approaches. the advantage of business experience brought Firstly, we will check whether university education by a relative. In our study, we describe social has an effect on entrepreneurial initiatives. environment through appreciation provided We selected only students from economic and by family, society and politicians to business business faculties, since they might be potential activities. Moreover, we consider that media entrepreneurs that should ensure the good information and the existence of an appreciated running of the economy. Secondly, we will also businessperson in a family might also motivate consider personality traits of individuals that people to start a business. might also infl uence them in their decision to Access to fi nancial resources is one of start a business. the main issues for entrepreneurs (Dacin Beside the quality of university education et al., 2010; Balcerzak et al., 2017) beside (Kolbreet al., 2006; Nabi et al., 2010; the insignifi cant economic results (Kashitsina Tvaronavičienė et al., 2018) and personal et al., 2016). The issues related to access traits (Belas & Sopkova, 2016), young people’s to fi nancial resources concern the banking entrepreneurial initiatives are also preconditioned sector support to companies, the existence by other important factors: macroeconomic of alternative fi nancial resources, state environment (Quadrini, 2009; Simionescu et al., support in starting and developing a business 2017), microeconomic environment (Gasse & (Gavurova et al., 2017). Other countries made Tremblay, 2011), social environment (Marques efforts to create suitable organizational and et al., 2018), business environment (Ključnikov legal framework for young entrepreneurs. For et al., 2017), state support to business (Belas example, Russia created a strong state support et al., 2017), and access to funds (Belas et al., system for young entrepreneurs (Golovina 2017; Vojtovič, 2016). et al., 2017). Other countries, like France, Micro- and macroeconomic environments the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, are characterized by dynamism and at a certain experienced many advantages at the global moment might change the opinions of people markets due to availability of indirect and direct related to business activities (Wiklund & support provided by the state (Umemura, Shepherd, 2005; Bilan et al., 2017). For example, 2007). In general, there are many confl icting a period of economic crisis observed at the situations between the state and companies. macroeconomic level would decrease economic Entrepreneurs criticize state support system, growth and investment volumes, and this, in turn, bureaucracy (Dobeš et al., 2017; Oehler et al., would affect the decisions of economic agents 2015), corruption (Belas et al., 2016), the quality who might reduce their business activities of education system (Millian et al., 2014). Most (Kliestik et al., 2018; Kliestikova et al., 2017). of entrepreneurs in Slovakia (53%) and the For dynamic environments, Lumpkin and Dess Czech Republic (84%) are of the opinion that (2011) recommended proactiveness (response the state does not fulfi l its obligations to fi rms to opportunities), while for fi rms in hostile (Apostoliuk, 2016). environments or mature industries responding Business environment is directly infl uenced to threats through competitive aggressiveness is by the state. The legislative environment can more preferable. support entrepreneurs in their development of Social environment also infl uences people’s activities or it can burden them. For example, high inclination towards entrepreneurship (Gurol staff recruitment costs may discourage start-ups & Atsan, 2006). Society’s perception of the from applying a recruitment procedure. In this business environment and political support case, administrative burden should be reduced for business activities are the key elements in order to grow employment (Demirguc-Kunt defi ning the social environment that might et al., 2006). In Central and Eastern countries, affect the decisions on business launch. Social like the analyzed here countries (Poland, entrepreneurship is explained by Mair and the Czech Republic, Slovakia), business

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environment is deeply affected by corruption of their Bachelor studies. They were expected which might reduce innovations. Corruption to graduate their faculties of Economics and should be better controlled in order to grow the Business in 2018. The questionnaires were level of innovation (Baker et al., 2005; Anokhin fi lled in by 503 students from 14 faculties in the & Schulze, 2009; Apostoliuk, 2016). Problems Czech Republic, 372 students from 3 faculties related to corruption in business revealed in in Poland and 582 students from 8 faculties media might discourage people from launching in the Slovak Republic. The samples were business activities. randomly selected and they are representative Our fi ndings will show common factors for the populations of students in Economics that affect entrepreneurial initiatives in all three and Business in these three countries. countries (the Czech Republic, Slovakia and In this study, random sampling technique Poland) related to business disadvantages and was chosen to extract a representative access to fi nancial resources. On the other sample for the population. Some demographic hand, there are some factors specifi c to other and social characteristics (age, experience countries (more importance given to family (employed now or before) and gender) were by the Poles and the Slovaks as compared considered in order to compute the sample size to the Czechs; a signifi cant contribution of for each country. The sampling characteristic higher education to entrepreneurial initiative in was chosen as to fulfi l the criterion of maximum the Czech Republic and Slovakia). However, variance (minimum value for the coeffi cient of our study has several limitations due to the variation). According to this criterion, gender specifi city of the samples of students in these was selected as sampling characteristic in all three countries. cases as Tab. 1 suggests. According to Tab. 2, in these three countries 1. Methodology 37%-38% of the students are males and As the aim of this paper is to evaluate the more than half of the students are females. impact of higher education, personality The proportions are kept when selecting the traits and different types of environments on samples. business entrepreneurship in Poland, Slovakia The volume of the sample for each country and the Czech Republic, we conducted the was computed using the formula: attitude surveys among the students from these countries. The surveys were conducted in (1) autumn 2017 among the students in the last year

The demographic characteristics in the sample and corresponding coefﬁ cients Tab. 1: of variation Coefﬁ cient of variation Characteristic Poland Slovakia Czech Republic Gender 18% 19.3% 15.5% Age 22% 23.4% 18% Employed 24% 27% 25.5%

Source: own

Tab. 2: The proportions of males and females in the population

Gender Proportion in the population Poland Slovakia Czech Republic Males 38.7% 37.03% 38.1% Females 61.3% 62.97% 61.9%

Source: own

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Z – probability for which results are For each sentence in the questionnaire guaranteed; the students were supposed to choose one – variation in the population expressed by of the following answers: 1. I totally disagree. variance; 2. I disagree. 3. I do not stand for this. 4. I agree. – maximum limit of acceptable error. 5. I totally agree.

Tab. 3: The description of questionnaire (Part 1)

K1: Social environment H1 K11: There is a businessperson in my family and I highly respect him/her. K12: Society in general appreciates businesspersons. K13: Politicians as well as public consider businesspersons to be benefi cial for society. K14: Media provides true information regarding status and activities of businesspersons. K2: State support for the business H2 K21: The state supports entrepreneurship through the use of specifi c tools. K22: The state creates high-quality conditions for starting a business. K23: The state fi nancially supports business. K24: Legal conditions for doing business are of high quality. K3: Macroeconomic environment H3 K31: I consider the macroeconomic environment in my country to be positive for doing business. K32: The state of macroeconomic environment in my country supports the launch of new businesses. K33: Present macroeconomic environment does not prevent me from starting a business. K34: Present level of basic macroeconomic factors (GDP, employment, infl ation) supports businesses and creates interesting business opportunities. K4: Quality of business environment H4 K41: Business environment in my country is of good quality and convenient for starting a business. K42: Business environment in my country is relatively risk-resistant and enables starting a business. K43: Conditions for doing business have improved in my country in the last fi ve years. K44: The amount of administrative work of businesspersons in my country has decreased in the last fi ve years. K5: Access to the fi nancial resources H5 K51: There is no intensive fi nancial risk in the business environment, i.e. having limited access to external fi nancial sources, bad payment habits, etc. K52: Business entities have easy access to bank credits. K53: I consider the credit conditions of commercial banks in my country to be appropriate. K54: The interest rates of commercial banks support business activities. K6: Quality of university education H6 K61: I consider university education of my country to be of good quality. K62: I consider the educational structure at my faculty (university) to be of high quality. K63: The knowledge acquired at my faculty (university) will help me when doing business. K64: The knowledge acquired by students in my country will help them to start a business. K7: Personality traits H7 K71: A businessperson does not have to have any special innate abilities. K72: The most important characteristics of a businessperson are specialization, persistence, responsibility, and risk-resistance. K73: It is easier to do business if close relatives are in business. K74: Every person has certain prerequisites for doing business.

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Tab. 3: The description of questionnaire (Part 2)

K8: Business advantages H8 K81: The advantages of entrepreneurship outnumber the disadvantages. K82: A businessperson is wealthier and having a higher social status. K83: Doing business enables to have career growth and interesting job opportunities. K84: Doing business enables to make use of own abilities. K9: Business disadvantages H9 K91: The disadvantages of entrepreneurship outnumber the advantages. K92: The disadvantage of doing business is not having a regular income. K93: The negative aspect of doing business is the fact that a businessperson does not have time to be with his/her family. K94: The disadvantage of doing business is not having good reputation within society. KY: Entrepreneurial initiative KY1: I am very interested in business. KY2: I am convinced that I will start a business after I graduate from university.

Source: own

The full structure of the questionnaire is The results based on the application of the presented in Tab. 3. two previous two methods help us in identifying We added the gender in the questionnaire the relevant variables that may affect the (1-male, 2-female). The data are processed in entrepreneurship initiative. These variables SPSS software. Firstly, we tried to identify the are considered in the multinomial logistic statistically signifi cant associations between regression as explanatory variables. The variables related to entrepreneurial initiatives variables related to entrepreneurship initiative and the rest of the variables in the database. are nominal variables with more categories. Therefore, we computed Kendall’s coeffi cient The multinomial logistic regression assumes for each country taking into account that that the dependent variable is not entirely we do not have a normal distribution of the predicted from the explanatory variables that data and we only have qualitative variables. take a single value for each case. Therefore, Considering the joint random variables Y and this type of regression has the advantage that Y and the corresponding set of n observations the coeffi cients of explanatory variables do not

(x1,y1), (x2,y2),..., (xn,yn), the Kendall’s coefﬁ cient necessarily need to be statistically signiﬁ cant is computed as: for each case. Moreover, the multicollinearity is low in this case.

(2) 2. Results and Discussions Previous studies on entrepreneurial activity and orientation in the Visegrad group are Starting from relevant associations identiﬁ ed focused more on the theoretical concepts by the Kendall’s coefﬁ cient, we check some without a relevant analysis on samples of hypotheses related to association between people. For example, Wach (2015) described variables using Kruskall-Wallis test, which is the concept of international entrepreneurial a non-parametric test suitable for qualitative orientation from theoretical point of view. variables. The null hypothesis of this test states However, a recent study made for V4 countries that the median of all groups are equal. In other on survey data indicated that females have words, the null hypothesis in our case states lower entrepreneurial intentions compared to that there is not any association between the males (Nowinski et al., 2017). In addition, our two variables. If we reject null hypothesis, we empirical study focuses more on psychological assume that we do not have reasons to say that and sociological variables that have not been the variables are not associated. exploited yet.

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The data collected using the same interesting job opportunities, own abilities questionnaire were subject to statistical created by doing business). processing in order to fi gure out the reasons The gender is negatively correlated with that determine students in economics and entrepreneurial initiatives. This shows that in business to start a business after graduation the Czech Republic males are more eager to and to manifest more interest in business start a business compared to females like in the activities. Each analysis is separately study of Murugaiah and Vishvas (2018). conducted for each country (Slovakia, Poland, In general, the personal and societal the Czech Republic), but comparisons appreciation assigned to businesspersons between countries are made and the results supports the interest of students in business. of this empirical analysis are compared with The high quality of educational structure and previous studies from literature. In the end, the entrepreneurial education in the faculty some recommendations are provided in order stimulated the interest in business like in case to grow the entrepreneurship initiative in these of Estonia (Kolbre et al., 2006) or Croatia countries which will bring benefi ts for the entire (Vican & Vuletic, 2013). The prerequisites of macroeconomic environment. In multinomial the people for doing business confi rmed by logistic models we used gender and experience Solesvik (2017) are important, but the family as control variables. Experience is a binomial support is also necessary as Zachary et al. variable with variants yes (1) and no (0), (2017) and Le Breton-Miller and Miller (2017) expressing is the student is or was employed explained. As Sánchez-García et al. (2018) before. His status on labour market might be showed, the personality traits are essential for important in forming the opinion related to entrepreneurs, but they should be improved entrepreneurship. through corresponding education in the fi eld. Czech business environment is A lot of business advantages were identifi ed by characterized by more important advantages: Czech students that help them to keep interest high-skilled labour force at low costs, the in business (Vican & Vuletic, 2013). location advantage, the highest GDP per capita We identifi ed signifi cant negative association in the Central and Eastern Europe, developed between deep interest in business and: infrastructure, good conditions for doing Social environment (the politicians’ opinion business and intensive entrepreneurship that on businesspersons advantages for surpass the average within EU-27, patent and society); regulatory environment consistent with the EU Business support by state (the state support standards. to entrepreneurship by specifi c tools, state In general, the associations between fi nancial support to business); entrepreneurial initiatives and the rest of the Access to fi nancial resources (easy access variable are quite weak. We identifi ed signifi cant to banks credits); positive association between deep interest in Business disadvantages (the disadvantages business and: of entrepreneurship that outnumber the Social environment (the appreciation of advantages). a businessman in the family, the positive The issues related to access to banks appreciation of the society related to credits discourage Czech students to be more businesspersons); interested in business like previously Dacin et Quality of university education (the high al. (2010) observed. The state business support quality of educational structure, the is not appreciated by students, the state system knowledge acquired at university helps of support being criticized before by Oehler et students in doing business); al. (2015). The Czech students present a quite Personality traits (the implication of close high level of risk aversion that does not motivate relatives in business makes it easier to them to give more important to business do, the prerequisites of every person to activities. A similar situation was observed for do business); Estonia by Kolbre et al. (2006). The support Business advantages (the advantages provided by politicians to businesspersons of entrepreneurship that outnumber the is not well seen by Czech people, probably disadvantages, the businessperson wealth because of the high corruption signaled by and higher social status, career jobs and other authors before (Baker et al., 2005).

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We identifi ed signifi cant positive association We identifi ed signifi cant negative between the strong belief that a business will be association between the strong belief that started after graduation and: a business will be started after graduation and: Social environment (the appreciation of Business support by state (the state support a businessman in the family, the positive to entrepreneurship by specifi c tools); appreciation of the society related to Access to fi nancial resources (credit businesspersons); conditions of commercial banks); Personality traits (the prerequisites of every Business disadvantages (the disadvantages person to do business); of entrepreneurship that outnumber the Business advantages (the advantages advantages). of entrepreneurship that outnumber the The issues related to credit conditions of disadvantages, the businessperson wealth commercial banks discourage Czech students and higher social status, career jobs and to start a business, issues related to credit conditions being previously mentioned by interesting job opportunities, own abilities Dacin et al. (2010). The state business support created by doing business). through different tools is not appreciated by In general, the personal and societal students, the state system of support being appreciation assigned to businesspersons criticized before by Oehler et al. (2015). The supports the interest of students to start Czech students present a quite high level of a business after graduation. The prerequisites risk aversion that discourage them to start of the people for doing business confi rmed by a business. A similar aversion to risk was Solesvik (2017) are important, but the family observed for Estonian students by Kolbre et support is also necessary as Zachary et al. al. (2006). The implication of this result is that (2017) and Le Breton-Miller and Miller (2017) government should design better policies to explained. A lot of business advantages were improve credit conditions offered by commercial identifi ed by Czech students that motivate them banks. to start a business after graduation (Glaub We selected the variables related to the et al., 2014). The motivation for business is quality of university education and the variables a consequence of fast economic development for which the Kendall’s coeffi cients are in the Czech Republic and the business greater than 0.3 and we tested the statistical advantages will motivate students to start signifi cance of the association using Kruskall- business after graduation. Wallis test. The results are presented in Tab. 4.

Kruskall-Wallis test to check for the association between quality of university Tab. 4: education, personality traits and different types of environments in relation with entrepreneurial initiative in the Czech Republic Entrepreneurial Variables related to quality of university Chi-square Asymptotic initiative education and business environment statistic signiﬁ cance deep interest in the knowledge acquired at university helps 28.515 0.000 business students in doing business the knowledge acquired at university helps 3.525 0.474 students to start a business the disadvantages of entrepreneurship that 59.905 0.000 outnumber the advantages the strong belief the knowledge acquired at university helps 26.328 0.000 that a business students in doing business will be started the knowledge acquired at university helps 10.368 0.035 after graduation students to start a business the disadvantages of entrepreneurship that 45.563 0.000 outnumber the advantages

Source: own

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We observed a stronger association that is highly appreciated have by 82.8% more between the entrepreneurial initiatives and the chances to agree that they have deep interest opinion according to which the disadvantages in business rather than totally disagree with of entrepreneurship outnumber the advantages. this. Even if the students agree with the fact The students are less inclined to risk and the that the disadvantages of entrepreneurship disadvantages of business activities could be outnumber the advantages, they have by 4 an important barrier for the Czech students. times more chances to be deeply interested The same risk aversion was observed in the in business rather than totally disagree. case of Estonian students (Kolbre et al., 2006). Students that considerate appropriate the Even though there are many advantages in credit conditions of commercial banks have be Czech business environment, there are also 2 times more chances to have a deep interest in disadvantages that should be taken care of by business than people who totally disagree with the government. this. Males have by almost 6 times chances There is a signifi cant relationship between to agree with the deep interest in business the knowledge acquired at university that rather than totally disagree. Students who helps students in doing business and some considered that knowledge acquired in the entrepreneurial initiatives (deep interest in faculty did not help them in doing business business, the strong belief that a business have by almost 9 times more chances to be will be started after graduation). However, interested in business rather to totally disagree the knowledge that helps students to start with business. This result might suggest than a business does not motivate them to show even if the information provided in the faculty deeper interest in business. is not enough, the interest for business is very The knowledge acquired at university high. These fi ndings support the approach of for motivating the students to start and Thompson (1999) that showed the inherent to do business helped Czech students attitude on entrepreneurship. However, if useful in convincing them to start the business information is provided by faculty to enhance after graduation. This result indicates that start-ups, the chances to be more interested in higher education in economics in the Czech business grow (Sanchez-Garcia et al., 2018). Republic contributes to graduates’ decision to The consequence would be the improvement of start a business, which shows the quality of education system as to provide more practical education that helps graduates integrating on information for starting a business. labour market. This result is different from that The similar analysis will be conducted for obtained previously for Estonia. Kolbre et al. Poland that also has location advantage like (2006) showed that students have knowledge the Czech Republic. According to the World on entrepreneurship, but this knowledge does Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Survey for not motivate them to start a business. 2017, Poland made progress in issue related Based on the associations between to resolving insolvency, getting credit and variables, some multinomial regression models protecting minority investors. were built to explain the entrepreneurial initiative In general, the associations between in case of Czech students in economics and entrepreneurial initiatives and the rest of the business. More regressions were run, but in the variable are quite weak. end we selected only one valid model. We identifi ed signifi cant positive association According to this model, the people who between deep interest in business and: totally disagree with the fact that disadvantages Social environment (the appreciation of of entrepreneurship outnumber the advantages a businessman in the family, the media have by almost 5.7 times more chances to information about status and activities of disagree with the deep interest in business businesspersons); rather than to totally disagree. The Czech Personality traits (the implication of close students that disagree with the fact that relatives in business makes it easier to do, disadvantages of entrepreneurship outnumber the characteristics of the businessperson the advantages have by almost 14.4 times should be related to specialization, more chances to disagree with the deep interest persistence, responsibility, risk-resistance); in business rather than to totally disagree. Business advantages (the advantages Students that have a businessman in the family of entrepreneurship that outnumber the

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disadvantages, the businessperson wealth to start a business, state fi nancial support to and higher social status, own abilities business); created by doing business); Business disadvantages (the disadvantages Business disadvantages (less time for of entrepreneurship that outnumber the family in case of businessperson). advantages). The gender is negatively correlated with As in the case of Czech students, the entrepreneurial initiatives (Kot et al., 2016; business support from state is considered Cera et al., 2018; Lazányi et al., 2017). This inappropriate. This situation seems to be shows that in Poland males are more eager specifi c to all Central and Easter European to do or start a business compared to females countries from EU where the level of corruption like in the Czech Republic and other countries is high (Belas et al., 2016). Like Czech students, (Murugaiah & Vishvas, 2018). the Polish ones have also a signifi cant aversion The quality of university education is not to risk, result confi rmed by other studies from signifi cantly correlated with deep interest in literature (Kolbre et al., 2006). Therefore, business in case of Poland, while in the Czech the disadvantages of business determine Republic the information provided by university a decrease in the interest for business. is important in supporting the business initiative. We identifi ed signifi cant positive association Compared to Czech students, the Polish ones between the strong belief that a business will be give a signifi cant importance to media that provide started after graduation and: useful information for starting a successful Social environment (the appreciation of business. Students that do not agree to spend a businessman in the family, the media less time with families are less motivated to information about status and activities of become businesspersons. Compared to Czech businesspersons); students, Polish ones seem to assign a more Quality of business environment (the importance to family rather to make career improvement in conditions for doing as businessperson and gain more money. business in the last fi ve years); This typology of people that prefer family Personality traits (the prerequisites of every relationships rather than money are described person to do business, the implication of more by Mair and Marti (2006). This observation close relatives in business makes it easier is in accordance with fi ndings at macroeconomic to do); level. Family and religion play a central role in Business disadvantages (less time for Polish society and these are refl ected at the family in case of businessperson). level of the business environment. Most of the The existence of a businessperson in family Poles are Roman Catholic. For this religion, the that is highly appreciated motivates Polish family should be at the center of Polish social students to start a business after graduation, structure (Kowalewski et al., 2010). this familial factor being also relevant in other A lot of business advantages were identifi ed studies (Le Breton-Miller & Miller, 2017). by Polish students that help them to keep Moreover, less time with family because of interest in business (Glaub et al., 2014). Indeed, business activities seems to be a serious issue compared to other countries in Europe, Poland for Poles. was the single country that was not affected by Unlike the Czech students, the Polish the recent economic crisis and came up with ones assign a signifi cant confi dence to many initiatives to support business activities. media information about activities and status The Czech Republic and Slovakia experienced of businesspersons. The improvement in the consequences of recent crisis that were business conditions was observed by Poles, the observed even at microeconomic level. The performance of Polish economy being proved Czech Republic recovered quite fast after the mostly in the period of recent global crisis. crisis, but Slovakia encountered more economic Moreover, Poland improved its competitiveness issues. in the last year due to foreign capital that was We identifi ed signifi cant negative association attracted in the country (Rae, 2013). between deep interest in business and: The prerequisites of the people for doing Business support from state (the state business confi rmed by Solesvik (2017) are support to entrepreneurship by specifi c important [38], but the family support is also tools, high-quality condition created by state necessary as Zachary et al. (2017) and Le

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Breton-Miller and Miller (2017) explained. after graduation. The knowledge acquired for As Sánchez-García et al. (2018) showed, doing business do not encourage students to the personality traits are essential for start a business or manifest a deeper interest entrepreneurs, but they should be improved in business. This means that the education through corresponding education in the fi eld. focused more on starting a business rather than We identifi ed signifi cant negative doing business. Improvements should be made association between the strong belief that in order to help students in having a successful a business will be started after graduation and: business (Cepel et al., 2018). Business disadvantages (the disadvantages Based on the associations between of entrepreneurship that outnumber the variables, some multinomial regression models advantages; the lack of a regular income). were built to explain the entrepreneurial The males are more eager to start initiative in case of Polish in economics and a business after graduation compared to business. More regressions were run, but in the women. Like Czech students, the Polish ones end we selected only a valid model. have also a signifi cant aversion to risk, result Polish students who agree or disagree with confi rmed by other studies from literature [8]. media information about businesspersons have Probably, the lack of experience makes them to few more chances to disagree and agree with see more disadvantages hard to pass. deep interest in business or to not stand for We selected the variables related to the this rather than totally disagree with it. There quality of university education and the variables are not signifi cant differences in gender related for which the Kendall’s coeffi cients are greater to interest in business. So, the media provide and we tested the statistical signifi cance of the information about businesspersons and their association using Kruskall-Wallis test in Tab. 5. activity that do not make people to totally reject The deep interest in business of Polish any interest in business. So, media could be an students might be justifi ed by the knowledge important source of education for motivating acquired at university for starting a business. The Poles to have higher interest in business as media information about status and activities of Kohli-Khandekar (2008) suggested. However, businesspersons and the advantages of business improvements are required in the education that outnumber the disadvantages encouraged system to orient the students more onto the Polish students to decide to start a business practical issues of doing business.

Kruskall-Wallis test to check for the association between quality of university Tab. 5: education, personality traits and different types of environments in relation with entrepreneurial initiative in Poland Entrepreneurial Variables related to quality of university Chi-square Asymptotic initiative education and business environment statistic signiﬁ cance deep interest the knowledge acquired at university helps 8.936 0.063 in business students in doing business the knowledge acquired at university helps 17.040 0.002 students to start a business the media information about status and activities 79.122 0.000 of businesspersons strong belief that the knowledge acquired at university helps 4.312 0.365 a business will students in doing business be started after the knowledge acquired at university helps 1.562 0.816 graduation students to start a business the media information about status and activities 121.713 0.000 of businesspersons the advantages of a business outnumber the 37.171 0.000 disadvantages

Source: own

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The similar analysis will be conducted Slovak Republic. Compared to the other two for Slovakia. This country also has location countries, students from Slovakia consider the advantage and a stable political environment, bad reputation of businesspersons as a barrier competitive tax system, high skilled labour force for developing interested in business. at lower costs and with the highest productivity The business disadvantages are related from Central and Eastern Europe. However, to the less time spent with family and to bad in the last years, a deterioration of business reputation of businesspersons in society. As environment was observed in the last years, in the case of Poland, family is an important the recent economic crisis having an important value in the Slovak society (Mandl, 2008). contribution to this. Unlike the other two countries, the students are In general, the associations between discouraged by the bad reputation in society entrepreneurial initiatives and the rest of the of some businesspersons. This might be variable are quite weak. explained by the cases of corruption that have We identifi ed signifi cant positive association a higher impact on Slovak society (Kljucnikov between deep interest in business and: et al., 2016). Unlike Poles and Czech people, Social environment (the appreciation of Slovak ones give more importance to individual a businessman in the family, the appreciation features of the entrepreneur (Kozubikova et al., of a businessman by the society, the media 2015). information about status and activities of We identifi ed signifi cant negative association businesspersons); between deep interest in business and: Quality of business environment (relatively Business disadvantages (the disadvantages risk-resistant business environment in of entrepreneurship that outnumber the the country, improvement of business advantages). conditions in the last fi ve years); Like in previous cases, the disadvantages Quality of university education (high quality of entrepreneurship discourage students in of university education, high quality of developing interest in business. This is in line structural education); with previous fi ndings that confi rm aversion to Personality traits (the lack of innate abilities risk (Kolbre et al., 2006). for businessperson, the implication of close We identifi ed signifi cant positive association relatives in business makes it easier to do, between the strong belief that a business will be the characteristics of the businessperson started after graduation and: should be related to specialization, Social environment (the appreciation persistence, responsibility, risk-resistance, of a businessman in the family, the the prerequisites for doing business); appreciation of a businessman by society, Business advantages (the advantages the media information about status and of entrepreneurship that outnumber the activities of businesspersons); disadvantages, the businessperson wealth Business support from state (high conditions and higher social status, own abilities created by the state for starting a business); created by doing business, career growth Quality of business environment (the good and job opportunities); quality of business environment); Business disadvantages (less time for Access to fi nancial resources (inappropriate family in case of businessperson, reputation credit conditions of commercial banks); in society). Quality of university education (high quality Males have more interest in business of university education, high quality of compared to females like in the previous structural education); cases. In Slovakia, the quality of education Personality traits (the lack of innate abilities is important in developing the interest in for businessperson, the implication of close business like in the Czech Republic. However, relatives in business makes it easier to do, in Slovakia the general quality of education the characteristics of the businessperson is considered essential, while in the Czech should be related to specialization, Republic the education related to business is persistence, responsibility, risk-resistance, relevant for motivating students to do business. the prerequisites for doing business); Like in Poland, media has an important role Business advantages (the advantages in promoting the interest in business in the of entrepreneurship that outnumber the

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disadvantages, the businessperson wealth (Murugaiah & Vishvas, 2018). Government and higher social status, own abilities programs should be designed to encourage and created by doing business); fi nancially support women to start a business. Business disadvantages (less time for family For Slovak students, the disadvantages of in case of businessperson, bad reputation business and the lack of a regular income are of businesspersons within society). the main barriers for starting a business after Contrary to results for Poland and the graduation. The aversion to risk is confi rmed Czech Republic, the bad reputation of in other studies, but also for Polish and businesspersons within society discourages Czech students. The lack of a regular income many Slovak students to start a business after is a problem previously detected Sanchez graduation. In Slovakia, the quality of education and Ricart (2010) for low-income markets. is important in motivating students to start Therefore, more fi nancial opportunities a business after graduation, like in the Czech should be available to recent graduates start Republic. However, in Slovakia only the general a business of their own. quality of education is considered essential, We selected the variables related to the while in the Czech Republic the education quality of university education and the variables related to business is relevant for motivating for which the Kendall’s coeffi cients are greater students to start a business after graduation. and we tested the statistical signifi cance of the Access to fi nancial resources is a common association using Kruskall-Wallis test presented issue for all the countries and this is specifi c to in Tab. 6. all countries in the Central and Eastern Europe The deep interest in business of Slovak (Meyer & Gelbuda, 2006). students might be justifi ed by the knowledge We identifi ed signifi cant negative acquired at university for starting a business at association between the strong belief that 5% level of signifi cance. The media information a business will be started after graduation and: about status and activities of businesspersons Business disadvantages (the disadvantages encouraged the Slovak students to be more of entrepreneurship that outnumber the interested in business and to decide to start advantages; the lack of a regular income). a business after graduation. Unlike Slovak The males are more eager to start students, the Polish students were encouraged a business after graduation compared to by media information only to start a business, women like in the case of Poland and the Czech not to be more interested in business. These Republic. Previous studies confi rmed the men’s results confi rm the role of media in promoting propensity for businesses compared to females the entrepreneurship in these countries like Aral

Kruskall-Wallis test to check for the association between quality of university Tab. 6: education, personality traits and different types of environments in relation with entrepreneurial initiative in Slovakia Entrepreneurial Variables related to quality of university Chi-square Asymptotic initiative education and business environment statistic signiﬁ cance deep interest in the knowledge acquired at university helps 7.705 0.103 business students in doing business the knowledge acquired at university helps 11.028 0.026 students to start a business the media information about status and activities 178.610 0.000 of businesspersons the strong belief the knowledge acquired at university helps 8.020 0.091 that a business students in doing business will be started the knowledge acquired at university helps 1.562 0.816 after graduation students to start a business the media information about status and activities 236.089 0.000 of businesspersons

Source: own

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et al. (2013) suggested. In all the countries, more traineeship during the studies as to explain the status on labour market seems to not be them how to be a successful businessperson. relevant in explaining the interest in business. Professors should explain more that media Even if they were not employed, students are information is not always the most reliable still interest in business. source while real-life meetings with successful Based on the associations between businessmen could be useful for them. Some variables, some multinomial regression models lectures should also be taught by the experts were built to explain the entrepreneurial coming directly from the business environment. initiative in case of Slovak in economics and business. More regressions were run, but in the 3. Conclusions end we selected only a valid model. Like in the This study has focused on the empirical case of Polish students, the media information assessment of the factors infl uencing the on businesspersons status and activities make entrepreneurial initiatives of Polish, Slovak and the Slovak to be more interested in business Czech students in Economics and Business. rather than totally disagree with businesses. Since their duty will be to ensure growth in In the case of Slovak students that agree competitiveness in their origin countries, the they have deep interest in business, the study is important for describing different coeffi cients and p-values for agreement on profi les of future businesspersons in these media capacity to provide true information countries. Some common characteristics on business are the following: disagreement were observed for all the students, but also (coef. – 18.2, p-value – 0.00), I do not stand some specifi c opinions concerning business for this (coef. – 13.184, p-value – 0.00), environment, higher education and individual agreement (coef. – 11.894, p-value – 0.00), total traits were identifi ed. It is more than likely that disagreement (coef. – 12.813, p-value – 0.00). these students have a signifi cant aversion to 88.7% of the cases were correctly classifi ed risk that infl uences their interest in business, which allow us conclude that the model is valid. but also the decision to start a business. The So, media could be an important source of result is not surprising since other studies came education for motivating people to have higher to very similar conclusions. Lack of professional interest in business as Kohli-Khandekar (2008) experience might explain the students’ suggested. attitudes too. Therefore, more internship are All in all, the main results of this empirical recommended for all three countries in order to analysis show that Czech students consider help students in passing easier the diffi culties that their interest in business is explained by that appear in the course of business activities. the knowledge acquired at university related Access to fi nancial resources is a common to doing business, while Polish and Slovak issue for all three countries as well as for other students were stimulated to have deep interest countries in Central and Eastern Europe. in business by the knowledge related to starting For the Poles and the Slovaks that are more a business. The immediate consequence is religious as compared to the Czechs, family plays the fact that quality of business education in the central role and its values are transferred to Czech universities is superior to that of Polish business environment. Therefore, an important and Slovak universities. This conclusion is also obstacle for entrepreneurial initiative in Poland confi rmed by the reality since Czech economy and the Slovak Republic is less time spent with is the most developed one in the region in family due to business activities. Moreover, question. Moreover, Polish and Slovak students lack of regular income among businesspersons are convinced to start a business by the media is a common problem for the Poles and the information about business environment Slovaks. This result makes us to believe that while Czech students are motivated to start aversion to risk is higher in case of Polish and a business mostly by the knowledge acquired Slovak students as compared to Czech ones. during the studies. Some recommendations Moreover, quality of higher education has its are necessary stemming from these results: important role in supporting entrepreneurial Polish and Slovak education in Economics and initiatives in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Business fi elds should be improved as to orient while the Poles focus more on the information the graduates to start and do business of their provided by media about status and activities own. A solution could be the organization of of businesspersons. In other words, the

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Abstract

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION, INDIVIDUAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS IN ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES: A MICROECONOMIC APPROACH FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA AND POLAND Yuriy Bilan, Mihaela Simionescu, Grzegorz Mentel, Zoltan Rozsa

Considering the role of entrepreneurial initiatives in supporting national economies, the main purpose of this paper is the assessment of various factors’ impact on entrepreneurial initiatives in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Using the data collected via surveys of students in Economics and Business, the association between entrepreneurial initiatives (deep interest in business, intention to start a business after graduation) and quality of higher education, individual traits and economic factors is investigated. The results based on Kendall’s coefﬁ cients, Kruskall- Wallis test and multinomial logistic regression indicated that all the students present a certain aversion to risk due to a high number of business disadvantages. Less time left to be spent with family due to business activities and the irregularity of incomes discourage the Poles and the Slovaks to start a business. Unlike Polish students, the Czechs and the Slovaks consider that the quality of higher education motivate them to have entrepreneurial initiatives. Polish and Slovak students decision to start a business depends on the media information about business environment, while for Czech students the knowledge acquired during the studies about starting a business are enough determine them to have own affairs. Some recommendations could be made based on these results: Polish and Slovak higher education in Economics and Business ﬁ elds needs improvement as to determine the graduates to start and do business of their own. In this context, the organization of more traineeship during the studies to explain them how to be a successful businessperson could have a positive impact on the decision to become entrepreneur. Professors could inform their students that media information is not always the most reliable source, while the experience of successful businessmen shared with students and some lectures taught by experts coming directly from the business environment could be more useful for them.

Keywords: Higher education, entrepreneurial initiative, business.

JEL Classiﬁ cation: C51, C53, L26.

DOI: 10.15240/tul/001/2019-4-006.

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