Transformations  in
Business & Economics

UNCOVER SMES FINANCE THROUGH THE IMPACT OF THE SPECIFIC FACTORS. EVIDENCE FROM SLOVAKIA
Aleksandr Kljucnikov

ABSTRACT. Financial risk is one of the most common risks faced by the entrepreneurs in the most countries. Insufficient capital, respectively difficult access to finance belongs to the most significant problems in this field. The problem is not limited only to SME's in Slovakia, but is widespread all over the world due to SME's special characteristics. The perception of the sufficiency of finances for SME's on Slovak market can be influenced by many factors. The aim of this paper is to identify the impact of such specific and commonly monitored factors as size and allocation of the enterprise, gender and the level of education of the entrepreneur, and newly the success in business on the perception of SME's access to finance. The method of questionnaire survey carried out on Slovak enterprises in 2016 was used to achieve this aim. Through the statistical verification of our working hypotheses by Pearson chi-square the paper brings the answer to the question which of the selected factors have the significant impact on the finances of Slovak SMEs. The results of the study confirm that there is a significant relation between SME's access to finance in Slovakia and such factors as size, region and success in business. The statistical interdependence was not confirmed in case of age and the level of education of the entrepreneurs.

KEYWORDS: access to finance, size, gender, level of education, success in business, SMEs finance in Slovakia.

JEL classification: G11, G32.