The importance\nand positive impact of high-growth enterprises on employment growth, economic\nand social development can no longer be doubted. Yet, until recently, research\non the economic importance of high-growth enterprises has been a peripheral\ntopic that has received almost no attention. The intensified interest of the\nacademic, business and political spheres in the issue of high-growth\nenterprises has been particularly evident in recent years. Related to this is\nthe activity of individual countries, which are trying to identify as\naccurately as possible enterprises with high growth potential and to set\nconditions that will contribute to their further development. One example is\nthe European Commission, which has already emphasised support for high-growth,\ninnovative small and medium-sized enterprises in its Europe 2020 strategy. In\nSlovakia, the issue of high-growth enterprises has not yet received significant\nattention, while the support of high-growth enterprises is only partially\nmentioned in the national concept for the support of start-ups and the\ndevelopment of the start-up ecosystem in the Slovak Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We at the Slovak\nBusiness Agency have therefore decided to contribute to a more accurate\nidentification and better understanding of the basic characteristics of the\ngroup of high-growth enterprises in Slovakia. In addition, the study also set\npartial objectives. The first partial objective was to verify seven basic facts\nabout high-growth enterprises in Slovakia, which are generally valid and\nrepeatedly verified by studies from other countries. The second objective was\nto test how different criteria of growth in sales affect a sample of\nhigh-growth enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From an\ninternational perspective, Slovakia belongs to the group of the EU Member\nStates with an above-average share of high-growth enterprises in all active\nenterprises, while using the criterion of growth in sales or employment. At the\nsame time, Slovakia has the highest share among all V4 countries. Slovak\nhigh-growth enterprises are represented to a greater extent especially among\nenterprises in the industrial production sector, which reflects the greater\ndevelopment of the industrial sector. In the EU, the situation is different,\nwith high-growth enterprises more prevalent, especially in the services sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2018, 3,093\nhigh-growth enterprises were identified in Slovakia with a minimum year-on-year\nrevenue growth of 10% over three consecutive years, i.e. between 2015 and\n2018. Of the total number of active\nbusiness entities in Slovakia with 10 or more employees, this represents 17.2%.\nRaising the criterion for year-on-year revenue growth to 20%, 30% and 50%\nnaturally reduces the number of high-growth enterprises. In the group of\nenterprises with high growth rates above 50%, the number of high-growth firms\ndecreased to 199 and their share was 1.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As much as 95%\nof high-growth enterprises in Slovakia belong to the SME size category. The\nremaining 5% are large enterprises with 250 or more employees. High-growth\nenterprises were identified in all major sectors of the economy. Slovakia is\ncharacterised by a high share of high-growth firms among active enterprises in\nthe industrial sector (21%). The lower share of high-growth enterprises in\nservices is mainly a result of the underdevelopment of this sector in Slovakia,\nwhich creates room for its further development and the emergence of new\nhigh-growth enterprises. Despite the general perception of high-growth\nenterprises as representatives of high-tech sectors, high-growth enterprises in\nSlovakia are less represented in high-tech sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
High-growth\nenterprises are mainly located in western Slovakia. In 2018, almost every third\nhigh-growth enterprise had its headquarters in the Bratislava Region. High-growth\nenterprises are more concentrated in regional cities. The capital city of\nBratislava has a specific position, where approximately every fourth\nhigh-growth enterprise in Slovakia was based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approximately\ntwo-thirds of high-growth enterprises were privately owned domestically.\nHowever, firms that are internationally or wholly foreign-owned exhibit higher\nrevenue growth dynamics. High-growth enterprises are often referred to as\nyounger or innovative start-ups, but the reality is different. High-growth enterprises\nin Slovakia are not young. Their average age is 15 years, which is only 1 year\nless than that of all active enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rapid growth\nof businesses in Slovakia is not artificially supported by various forms of\npublic support. The low interest in the issue of high-growth enterprises is\nnaturally reflected in the lack of public support that would be specifically\ntargeted at this group of companies. According to data from the portal for\nregistration and monitoring of aid, public support for high-growth enterprises\nis used approximately to the same extent as for other companies in Slovakia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, in\n2018, we identified 195 gazelles in Slovakia, i.e. young high-growth\nenterprises that are less than 5 years old. Gazelles accounted for 6% of all\nhigh-growth enterprises in Slovakia and 1% of the total number of active\ncompanies with 10 or more employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the seven\nbasic facts about high-growth enterprises that emerge from foreign studies,\nfour have been verified to be valid in Slovak conditions: the distribution of\ngrowth values is irregular; high-growth enterprises are not more frequently\nrepresented in high-tech industries; it is difficult to predict which\nenterprises will grow; different growth indicators cause differences in the set\nof high-growth enterprises. The hypothesis that high-growth enterprises tend to\nbe young but need not be small is partially valid. Due to data limitations, the\nstudy was unable to verify two facts about high-growth firms, namely: a small\nnumber of high-growth enterprises create a large share of new jobs or high\ngrowth does not persist over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The importance and positive impact of high-growth enterprises on employment growth, economic and social development can no longer be doubted. Yet, until recently, research on the economic importance of high-growth enterprises has been a peripheral topic that has received almost no attention. The intensified interest of the academic, business and political spheres in the issue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n