Podnikateľské prostredie – problém stavu ekonomiky či inštitucionálneho systému?
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT – THE PROBLEM OF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OR INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM DIFFICULTY?

Summary/Abstract: The critical conditions in Slovak enterprises – and consequently in whole economy – have been for a long time related to the failures in business environment. That is usually identified with the legislative and institutional frameworks in which business activities take place. Its defects are attributed to unfinished System reform, wrong government policy actions, but mostly to imperfect legislation and its ineffective execution. It is said that environment defined in this manner has a crucial impact on business entities’ acti-vities which summarily represent not only the state of single firms but also the perform-ance of whole economy of the country. In these consequences, it isn’t paid such atten-tion to the other determinants of business environment, e. g. to the situation of domestic and foreign market (price levels, exchange rates, incomes level, rates of interest, etc.). In submitted article, the criticism of reform policy as well as of institutions and legislation imperfections is mostly accepted there. But the statement that above-mentioned specification of the environment is the reason for that critical condition of enterprises and national economy – which dissatisfies the society and politics and is the most serious economic problem in Slovakia for a longer time – is refused here. That critical state is characterized in particular by low production of resources which leads to excessive number of lossy firms and firms (represent majority) which profitability does not cover renewal of fixed capital or formation of adequate own current capital. Low production of resources in enterprises is thereafter transferred into the wider environs (business partners, banks, state budget, employees, and other segments) and causes high indebtedness, business commitment defaults, and other features which are the common objects of business environment criticism. The article proves that major barriers which unable to overcome the low production of resources of the country does not primary occur inside the enterprises but rather in the society-economy. They are generated not by legislation or institutions but mostly by relation between the Slovak production structures and the world markets and terms of trade determined by them – especially exchange rates and price levels. The losses in such a great number of companies have been caused not only by the lack of business activities but mainly because the supply of the firms (products and services) cannot meet at the market (home or abroad) such an appropriate level of demand which would be able to allow them to avail all the production potential and to sell at the prices covering their reproduction costs (fixed and operating) and to make necessary profit. The first part of the article analyses the impact of rapid market reduction in early 90-ties on the exploitation of production potential and dynamics of GDP evolution, on exchange rates, trade balance, prices, costs, incomes and profit....

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