Selected economic factors of the quality of business environment

The development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is at the center of interests of the relevant authorities in the European Union and national economies across Europe. The aim of this paper was to define and quantify important economic factors that shape the quality of business environment in the SME segment, and to compare their significance in Czech and the Slovak Republics. According to the defined aim a survey-based research was conducted with the enterprises of the SME segment. Responses from 312 enterprises in Czech Republic and 329 enterprises in Slovak Republic were obtained. The Z-score method was used to verify the scientific hypotheses. The research brought some interesting findings. Slovak entrepreneurs, despite slower growth of GDP and income in Slovakia, better rated the importance of the Central bank in creating a stable business environment as well as the role commercial banks play in financing business needs. The results of this research support the perception that the quality of business environment is a complex consisting of both economic and non-economic factors. It was discovered that the overall rating of the business environment quality is lower than the rating of partial economic factors influencing it. © Foundation of International Studies, 2019