Firm Survival in New EU Member States

We analyze firm survival determinants in four new European Union member states (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia). We employ the Cox proportional hazards model on firm-level data over the period of 2006–2015. We show that less concentrated control of large shareholders, higher solvency, and more board directors are linked with increased probability of firm survival in all four countries. However, an excessive number of board directors shows a detrimental effect. Firms with foreign owners and higher returns on their assets exhibit better survival chances. On the other hand, larger firms and those hiring international auditors show lower probabilities of survival. A number of determinants specifically influence firm survival in different ways across countries. This fact emphasizes that differences in business conditions are important when studying firm survival