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The profound negative effects of the current pandemic crisis on firms, especially small and medium-sized ones, have forced them to rethink their business models. In order to survive and compete, many businesses have focused on adopting and using digital technologies. Several studies have shown that digital technologies could facilitate business continuity and increase their resilience to shocks. Starting from the fact that SMEs are an important source of innovation and the predominant form of business organization, the European Commission has repeatedly emphasized the importance of digital business transformation and the need to support the digitalisation of SMEs. Our study aims to analyse the degree of digitalisation of SMEs in EU countries and the obstacles they face in digitizing their business. In addition, we aim to examine the extent to which the use of various forms of digital technology could stimulate the growth of SME performance. The analysis covers the 27 EU member states and is mainly based on data provided by the European Commission and the OECD, as well as information provided by European Investment Bank surveys. Our paper complements the literature focused on the digitization of SMEs, especially by highlighting the gaps between EU countries in terms of digitization of the SME sector, but also by empirically examining the impact of digital technologies on the performance of SMEs in EU countries. Through its content, our study emphasizes the crucial importance of digitizing SMEs so that these companies are drivers of economic growth and development of countries. The results of our research may be of interest to both researchers concerned with business digitalisation and decision-makers at various levels, who should prioritize the identification of appropriate measures to stimulate digital innovation and investment in information and communication technology infrastructure.

Entrepreneurship is recognized as one of the factors stimulating economic growth and increasing economic competitiveness. In addition, the Europe 2020 Strategy has focused its attention on entrepreneurship as a key factor of economic growth, social progress, and employment. In this context, our study examines the role of entrepreneurial performance for sustaining the development of countries, focusing on a sample of European countries. We attempt to reveal if increasing entrepreneurial performance would have significant influence on improving the economic position of countries and their future economic development. Starting from the OECD-Eurostat Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme we use a set of entrepreneurial performance indicators as independent variables and examine to what extent they can influence competitiveness and economic growth, seen as dependent variables of the models. We focus on a period of 10 years (2008–2017) and we apply panel-data estimation techniques. Because the period considered includes the period of the last international financial crisis, we also include in our analysis a dummy variable. Our results emphasize that the changes in entrepreneurial performance play a significant role in enhancing national competitiveness and economic growth. Our findings contribute to the expansion of literature in the field by providing evidence on the correlation of indicators that measure entrepreneurial performance with national competitiveness and economic growth. Moreover, our findings point out the need of the policy makers to adopt measures and policies that help and stimulate entrepreneurs to become more performant because they can generate positive effects to the economy as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a number of factors that can hinder the path of entrepreneurship development and the literature highlighted the fact that taxes are one of the most important barriers for entrepreneurs. This paper aims at identifying the relationship between tax rates and entrepreneurship and to establish the impact of tax rates on entrepreneurs considering their motivations (necessity, opportunity or improvement-driven opportunity). The research focuses on a sample of 46 countries grouped according to their income level, for a period of eight years (2012-2019). In order to test our hypotheses, we use multiple linear regression based on balanced panel data and we consider, as dependent variables, indicators that measure entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial motivations (early-stage entrepreneurial activity, necessity-driven entrepreneurs, opportunity-driven entrepreneurs, improvement-driven opportunity entrepreneurs, and motivational index). As independent variables, we consider indicators that measure the tax rates supported by entrepreneurs (total tax and contribution rate, profit tax, labor tax and contributions, and other taxes payable by businesses). The results show that tax rates play a key role in fostering the creation of new companies. Moreover, the impact is different, depending on the entrepreneurs' motivations. Entrepreneurs motivated by necessity are positively related to total tax and contribution rate, while those motivated by opportunity are negatively related with this indicator. Therefore, tax rates discourage the entrepreneurs that seek innovation, but they do not affect those that do not have other options to obtain the necessary income for living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to identify the types of financing structures of the economy that exist in European Union countries highlighting the features of each structure. For each type of financing system of the economy identified we observe the financial resources available to companies. Depending on these we identify how there are financed the companies in each market, more exactly what capital structure do they have, and moreover what is the optimal capital structure in each case. So, by this analysis, we want to see if the financing system of an economy influences the optimal structure of the companies operating in the capital market from that country. In various stages of development of the financial system, the company financing depends on the general characteristics of the environment in which the enterprise operates. The financing system existing in a country plays an important role on the capital structure of an enterprise because according to the specific of each country the enterprises have access to more or fewer financial resources. We also analyze the supply of financial resources within each system, exactly the actual money that businesses can have on those markets and key management decisions on enterprises financing. In this paper we combine the theoretical analysis with the empirical results obtained by the studies realized by European Commission. It is important to keep in mind that the results obtained by the analysis realized in the last years may be influenced by the manifestation of the global financial crisis. An important result of this analyze is that the external environment and the disturbances in the external environment have a significant influence on the financing of businesses operating in a country. This was proved again by the impact of the current financial crisis on the activities of the enterprises on each market from European Union.

The significant role played by youth entrepreneurship for the economic growth of countries has shift the attention of researchers to the potential entrepreneurs, and how to stimulate the enter on the market of new and innovative individuals which might have positive effects on economic development. The present research is conducted to identify the influence of some characteristics of business environment and of access to financial resources on entrepreneurial intentions of faculty students from one of the largest universities of Romania. We conducted the study on a sample of undergraduate and master students, by applying a questionnaire. The main objectives of this paper are to analyze how the young potential entrepreneurs perceive the access to finance for start-ups and if this factor would be a significant predictor of the decision to become entrepreneurs of the students. In addition, our study discusses how policy makers could provide support for young people to create innovative businesses, from a financial perspective. Our findings show a high level of entrepreneurial intentions among the interviewed students, but also that easy access to financial resources is the most important obstacle identified by the students with entrepreneurial intentions. Young entrepreneurs encounter significant obstacles in trying to obtain the necessary financial resources, because they do not have a market history or sufficient guarantees. Access to information and fewer business regulations were also identified as factors with a significant contribution on entrepreneurial orientation of youth. The implications of the study are significant for potential policy intervention, because emphasize the need of the policy makers to stimulate young entrepreneurs by promoting policies that allow young entrepreneurs greater access to finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper aims to assess the effects of financing and risk management on firm value of companies and to provide additional evidence in the area of empirical debates. For these purposes, we performed a regression analysis (based on the fixed-effects model), which reflects the effects of the two policies (i.e. financing and risk management) on the value of the firms listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The dependent variable was value of the firm; we used Tobin's Q as a proxy. Independent variables were: financial structure, risk management, financial return and firm size. The findings reveal that two of the four examined variables yield significant positive effects on the value of firms (financing structure and return on assets); for the other two independent variables analysed (risk management and firm size), the hypotheses were rejected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is considered a significant determinant for the economic development of a country but is also important for new job creation and innovation. Understanding and examining the factors which affect the decision of individuals to become entrepreneurs play a significant role for the decision makers in order to identify the adequate measures that can support and develop the entrepreneurial activity. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the key factors that determine entrepreneurial motivations of individuals, but also to analyze empirically the impact of these factors for a sample of 18 countries members of the European Union, for a period between 2002 and 2015. We performed our empirical analysis using data offered by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the World Bank. We used panel data regression models. As dependent variables for our econometric models, we used, alternatively, total entrepreneurial activity rate, necessity driven entrepreneurial activity, and opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity. As regards the independent variables considered, we took into account six macroeconomic indicators and four indicators which measure the perceptions and attitudes regarding entrepreneurship. The results of the panel data regression models show that the entrepreneurial motivations are influenced by the level of economic development of a country and total tax rate (only necessity entrepreneurs), unemployment rates, inflation rates and access to financial resources. Also, all the considered perceptual indicators (fear of failure, entrepreneurial intentions, perceived capabilities, and opportunities) have a significant effect on entrepreneurship according to its motivation, but these effects differ according to the motivation of individuals. Overall, this paper emphasizes that the economic conditions from an EU country but also the perception of entrepreneurs are important determinants of entrepreneurial motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at analysing the CSR issue in the context of Romanian SMEs. The first part of the paper reviews the literature on CSR in SMEs, identifying the drivers of CSR by SMEs, the particularities of the SMEs and also the barriers to the involvement of SMEs in CSR activities. We will use the case study in order to analyse firms listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) Aero Market and we will highlight the lessons learned from SMEs in the process of integrating social responsibility (SR) into their business practice and the potential benefits that socially responsible practices can bring to the business environment and to the society. Our contribution will consist in filling the gap in SMEs CSR research and developing the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship plays a major role in national economies, being considered one of the main engines of economic growth, and an important contributor to creating new jobs and innovations. Identifying the main determinants of entrepreneurial activity is important for helping the decision makers in adopting adequate measures to support the creation and development of new businesses. The turbulent economic environment in recent years dominated by economic and financial crises, resulting in a reduction in economic growth but also in an increase in unemployment, has led decision makers to turn their attention again to the determinant factors of entrepreneurship. Starting from those stated above, through this paper we aim to investigate the impact of some macroeconomic, individual and business environment-related factors on the dynamics of entrepreneurial activity in 18 European Union (EU) countries for a period of 14 years (2002-2015). We use three regression models and we apply panel data fixed effect model approach. The results of our study highlight that inflation rate, foreign direct investments, access to finance and total tax rate are the main macroeconomic determinants of entrepreneurship. Also, we find that all individual business-related factors considered in the analysis have a significant impact on total entrepreneurship rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transformations in Business & Economics is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Small and medium enterprises are an important part of a country's economy and are a significant source for creating value added, employment, innovation and economic growth. Because of this improving their performance is a major concern of the specialists in the field. Through this paper we intend to evaluate the evolution of the SMEs performance between 2008 and 2014, but also to determine the factors that are influencing the growth of the value added of SMEs in the Central and Eastern European countries. In order to achieve the objectives proposed we use as methods the comparison of indicators and multiple linear regression models. The results obtained show that a part of the considered macroeconomic performance indicators, such as: total tax rate, exports of goods and services and private final consumption are statistically significant and have a strong influence on the SMEs performance. Also we observe important differences according to firm size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving SME's performance is a major concern because they are a significant source for creating value added, employment, innovation and economic growth. Through this paper we analyse the evolution of the SMEs performance in terms of employment in the last years, and we try to determine which of the macroeconomic performance indicators are influencing the growth of SME's employment in seven CEE countries. To achieve the objectives we use correlation and multiple linear regression models on panel data. The results show that GDP, total private final consumption, gross capital formation and wages have a strong influence on SMEs employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central and Eastern European countries have experienced significant imbalances starting with 2008 that have affected their business environment profoundly. Thus, the firms operating in the region have faced, and continue to face, difficulties and major challenges. Through this paper we aim at analyzing the key indicators that characterize the business environment of a country, and by analyzing their values through time, we want to compare the situation from ten countries from CEE. We analyzed the indicators for a period of eight years, between 2007 and 2014. This period presents interest because it comprises the period of the recent financial crisis. By using indicators characterizing the business environment we analyze the ease of doing business, but also the ease of getting credit, domestic credit to private sector and reforms adopted in order to improve the access to credit by the CEE countries. We also analyze the time needed to start a business and the regulations regarding start-ups, which may encourage or discourage the new firms to enter the market. The results obtained show that the CEE countries are starting to recover from the current financial crisis, but are still lagging behind the developed countries of the European Union. However, the business environment has registered a series of improvements in the majority of the analyzed countries in the last two years, improving especially the areas of starting a business, getting a credit and paying taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of our paper is to identify the main determinants of entrepreneurial motivations and to empirically evaluate their impact in 18 EU member states, over the period 2002-2014. The empirical analysis is performed based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the World Bank. In the econometric model, we considered as dependent variables, alternatively, opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity and necessity-driven entrepreneurial activity. As independent variables we took into account 11 factors that could have an impact on the motivations of entrepreneurs. The empirical results indicate that the motivation of entrepreneurial activity is influenced by unemployment rates, inflation rates, tax rates, domestic credit to private sector, fear of failure, entrepreneurial intentions and perceived capabilities. Overall, our study highlights that macroeconomic conditions and the perception of the entrepreneurs about entrepreneurial activity are affecting significantly and with opposite signs the entrepreneurial activity depending on the motivation of entrepreneurs (opportunity or necessity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving access to finance for SMEs by promoting the development of alternative non-banking financing channels represents in the current context a highly debated topic by European and national authorities, and academics. This paper discusses the possibility of EU28 SMEs financing through the capital markets, highlighting the difficulties faced by SMEs when seeking to obtain finance in these markets, but also the funding opportunities based on the market that have emerged in recent years. Furthermore, our study highlights the main recent EU initiatives used to develop alternative sources for SMEs financing, which are intended to complement bank lending. By its content, our paper emphasizes the need to promote and develop of market-based financing instruments in order to reduce excessive dependence of SMEs by banks, but also to strengthen the resilience of real economy to shocks and banking crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to emphasize the link between the foreign direct investments (FDIs) and the sustainable environment in EU countries. We also focus on investigating the influence of other factors related to business environment on FDIs, considering the investors' sustainable choice for the host countries, grouped according to FTSE Russell criteria. Using panel methodology and applying Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method of data analysis, the authors reached the conclusion that a better-rated business environment, with concern for sustainability, has more of a chance to attract larger sums of FDIs, mostly in the case of developed economies. This fact proves that the main advantage considered by a foreign investor in developed EU countries is represented by CO2 emissions (sustainable environment) and a good ease of doing business environment. The study highlights the factors that influence the decision of investing in developed countries, rather than in emerging and frontier ones. This paper contributes to the existing literature by identifying the group of countries which need a more sustainable approach to attract a large amount of FDIs, given that the inflow of FDIs is a crucial factor of economic growth, a possible source of innovation and technology, and a way to reduce poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]