In today’s turbulent world influenced by globalization, knowledge is becoming a key factor in the market. Every economy, if it wants to be successful and competitive, must pay more attention to knowledge and its creation, transfer, and preservation. In this respect, it is a key element in ensuring a country’s sustainable position in a competitive environment. Based on this, we set out the main idea of the article as follows: increased emphasis on the factors of a knowledge-based economy affects the growth of the country’s competitiveness, which contributes to its better sustainability. To verify the idea, we used a multi-criteria evaluation of countries by the TOPSIS method and a subsequent regression model. We examined developments in the EU countries over a period of 11 years in selected indicators typical for the knowledge economies, in the area of competitiveness. Finally, we examined the sustainability of EU countries. Based on the findings of these methods, we identified the leading country—Sweden—in the field of knowledge economy, competitiveness, and sustainability.

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Adamisin P., Kotulic R., Kravcakova Vozarova I. (2017): Legal form of agricultural entities as a factor in ensuring the sustainability of the economic performance of agriculture. Agric. Econ. -Czech, 63: 80-92.Abstract: Development of the agricultural sector prior to 1989 in Slovakia, such as in most countries of the Central and Eastern Europe, was aff ected by the collectivization realized on the principle of the central planning. Th e main objective became the quantity, while quality and effi ciency had only a secondary importance. Entering into a new market environment after 1990 meant for agricultural enterprises complicated structural, economic and social changes. Th e aim of the paper is to evaluate the economic performance of agricultural entities depending on their legal form in Slovakia. We assume that the legal form or the way of organizing and management of processes within the agricultural enterprises has an impact on the economic performance of the agricultural subjects. Th e analysis confi rmed the assumptions. On the basis of the testing results, it was found that business companies show a higher rate of economic success measured by the selected economic indicators.

Abstract. The aim of the article is to identify whether the risk management is implemented in the practice of small and mediumsized companies (SMEs) in Slovakia, and whether financial factors are the most important sources of the risk occurrence. We analysed risk management at small and medium-sized companies in the Slovak Republic in February-March, 2015 on a sample of 80 firms. The risk management is very important for these companies as its knowledge can help companies to perform their business successfully. Our important finding from the survey was that 40% of small businesses have a system of risk management. Hypothesis 1 foreseeing that at least 40% of risks at small and medium-sized enterprises are caused by difficult access to financial resources can be rejected. Нypothesis 2 assuming that the risk assessment as a way of risk management dominates in more than 50% of small enterprises in Slovakia can be rejected, too. It is concluded that introduction of wider usage of risk management at SMEs will dicrease business failure and support better management practices. Елена ШираPhD (екон.), старший викладач, факультет менеджменту, Прешовський університет, Словаччина Івана Кравчакова Возарова аспірантка, факультет менеджменту, Прешовський університет, Словаччина Катаріна Радванска викладач, Міжнародна школа менеджменту ISM Словаччина Управління ризиками на малих і середніх підприємствах Словаччини Анотація. Метою статті є визначити, якою мірою застосовується управління ризиками в практиці малих і середніх підприємств (МСП) у Словаччині, а також чи є фінансові чинники найбільш важливими джерелами виникнення ризику. Ми проаналізували управління ризиками на малих і середніх підприємствах у Словацькій Республіці в лютому-березні 2015 року на вибірці з 80 фірм. В результаті нами було виявлено, що 40% досліджених малих підприємств мають систему управління ризиками. Гіпотеза 1 передбачала, що щонайменше 40% ризиків для малих і середніх підприємств обумовлені ускладненим доступом до фінансових ресурсів. Гіпотеза 2 передбачала, що оцінка ризику як спосіб управління ризиками домінує на більш ніж 50% малих підприємств у Словаччині. Обидві гіпотези було спростовано. Зроблено висновок про те, що більш широке використання управління ризиками на малих і середніх підприємствах буде підтримувати кращі практики управління. Ключові слова: ризик; управління ризиками; малі та середні підприємства. Елена Шира PhD (экон.), старший преподаватель, факультет менеджмента, Прешовский университет, Словакия Ивана Кравчакова Возарова аспирантка, факультет менеджмента, Прешовский университет, Словакия Катарина Радванска преподаватель, Международная школа менеджмента ISM Словакия Управление рисками на малых и средних предприятиях Словакии Аннотация. Целью статьи является определить, насколько применяется управление рисками в практике малых и средних предприятий (МСП) в Словакии, а также являются ли финансовые факторы наиболее важными источниками возникновения риска. Мы проанализировали управление рисками на малых и средних предприятиях в Слов...

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Sustainability is a particularly crucial factor in policy formulation and analysis, including in the EU’s common agricultural policy. The common agricultural policy, through a subsidy policy, has caused a significant proportion of public funding to flow to agricultural subsidies, so it is appropriate to focus on the effect of these subsidies in the context of the sustainable development of EU agriculture. The impact of agricultural subsidies on business performance is of interest to policy makers. In agrarian practice, insufficient attention is paid to the legal form of agricultural performance, so our economic analysis focused on this area of research. The aim of the paper was to evaluate the effect of financial support in the form of subsidies resulting from the EU’s common agricultural policy and to verify its connection with the performance of agricultural enterprises in terms of the legal form in the context of sustainable development of the agricultural sector in Slovakia. No statistically significant linear correlation was found between farms’ performance results and the volume of subsidies per hectare of agricultural land for each legal form throughout the reporting period. In each analyzed year, business companies achieved a better overall assessment than agricultural cooperatives based on monitored parameters.

Under the influence of the change in the overall economic environment, the problem of measuring the performance of a company and its financial health is also changing. At present, every agricultural company is exposed to a number of internal as well as external risks, the failure of which can lead to potential bankruptcy. It is a known fact that the risks in agriculture are significantly greater than those in other sectors of the national economy. Proper diagnosis of critical aspects and measuring the development of individual financial indicators of agricultural holdings are basic prerequisites for eliminating these risks and maintaining, as well as increasing, their competitiveness. Among the key tools for measuring the financial situation of a company are bankruptcy models, three of which have been used (Altman model, Taffler model, and Bonity index). The aim of this study was to identify the comprehensive financial health of 469 agricultural enterprises in the Slovak Republic using the three above-mentioned bankruptcy models in 2016. The obtained results were verified using the Kruskal–Wallis test, Levene test, or Moran index. Altman's model indicated potential future problems of businesses and agricultural cooperatives. Using the Bonity index, the neutral situation was assessed (the financial health could be regarded as neither insufficient nor optimal). Taffler model offered contradicted results and does not expect the occurrence of problems soon. In the study, we also verified the assumption of the dependence of financial health of companies on the legal form and territorial division, which was confirmed to be insignificant.