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The paper aims to investigate factors that drive the total factor productivity (TFP) and its growth in the Czech food industry over 2003–2017. The authors’ analysis focuses on firm-level characteristics such as location choice, sub-sector affiliation, use of debt, liquidity, asset turnover, firm size and firm age.

The determinants of productivity were tested econometrically by estimation of multivariate regression models. The firm-level panel data set consisted of 14,488 observations (data of 980 firms spanning 15 years). TFP was estimated by three regression-based techniques – ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, instrumental variables (IV) approach and two-way generalized method of moments (GMM) regression. All three measures of TFP were used as outcome variables to estimate the impact of firm-level determinants on both TFP level and growth.

The results have shown statistically significant and reversed U-shaped relationship between the firm age and the TFP level (with a turning point in the age of 12.5 years). However, the dynamic models investigating the TFP growth have found that younger firms achieve higher productivity growth in comparison with older ones. Higher market share and assets turnover were positively associated with both TFP level and its growth.

This study brings several relevant propositions for future research. First, the authors recommend future researchers to study not only differences in the levels of productivity but also determinants of its growth. Second, the authors believe that adding a non-linear component to age as a factor explaining changes in the levels of productivity might be a very relevant contribution to the literature.

Although it is generally accepted that successful and sustainable growth of firms, regions and economies can be achieved particularly through viable companies with high productivity, there is still a limited number of firm-level studies explaining the determinants of productivity levels and growth in agribusiness sectors in transition economies. Therefore, this study is expected to contribute to a better understanding of this important topic.

The objective of the study is to identify and explore factors affecting the productivity of companies in the Czech Republic with a focus on the role of firm size, firm age, indebtedness and long-term negative equity, efficiency of assets usage, liquidity, legal form, location and sector affiliation.

The study utilizes a large unbalanced panel dataset of 91,257 firms (548,998 observations in total) covering the period 2000–2019. The dependent variable, i.e. total factor productivity (TFP), reflecting the overall firm productivity, was estimated by ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The main findings were obtained through the estimation of two econometric models explaining the effects of factors on firm-level TFP. First, the OLS regressions together with Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) 3 regions, year dummies and robust standard errors were estimated. Second, as a robustness check, the very same model was estimated with the random effects (RE) generalized least squares (GLS) method.

The analysis has shown a statistically significant U-shaped relationship (with the turning point of 38, resp. 36 years) between firm age and the overall TFP among the Czech enterprises. The authors provide two key findings in terms of a firm size-productivity relationship. Firms with fewer employees, often officially registered as self-employed individuals/freelancers, report higher levels of productivity. Nevertheless, when it comes to firm property (assets), the authors find a positive relationship between firm size and TFP. A high proportion of debts in the capital structure of analysed companies, or even negative equity, has been negatively associated with TFP levels.

More research is needed in the deeper exploration of sectoral and regional determinants of firm TFP, as both regional and sectoral heterogeneity were observed in the study. The authors propose the employment of a multi-level modelling approach, including a range of continuous variables and investigation of their role in shaping firm-level productivity.

Concerning the results, managers should be mindful of optimal capital structure principles due to the negative impact of a high level of debts on the productivity level. High indebtedness means high-interest payments drawing earnings off, which may be, especially in the long term, a hindrance to investments. The entrepreneurship and small- and medium-sized enterprise policies may be targeted at the soft policy actions, including advisory services and counselling on business development or risk and on the provision of financial capital allowing firms to strive for growth-oriented projects.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to provide insight into the firm-level productivity determinants, based on the large dataset covering enterprises across the whole economy over the long term, representing the structure of the country's entrepreneurial activity.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of firm-specific determinants on the entrepreneurial success (measured through the objective financial performance) of the Czech food processing firms over 2003-2014 and with the main particular focus on capital structure and productivity as the tough challenges of the firms in transition and emerging economies.

Determinants of profitability are tested econometrically, as for the estimation technique, both-way fixed effects controlling for variety over the time and across enterprises were applied. The collected micro-panel data set consists of 10,509 observations and includes 1,804 firms. Estimated regression models with fixed effects are used to quantify the determinants of the financial performance, operationalized through three key performance indicators – price–cost margin, return on assets and return on equity.

Estimated econometric models supported hypothesis assuming a positive relationship between the labour productivity and profitability. In line with the assumptions based on the development of the Czech food market, high leverage of firms led to the decrease of profitability, which can be explained by the high financial distress costs and worsened market position of firms in the competitive environment. Ageing of firms and firm size were associated with the increase of profitability indicators.

The findings of the presented research are important for investors considering agribusiness as a part of their investment portfolios and for policymakers to enhance the economic efficiency of the food industry through regulations and public support, and particularly, from the firm management viewpoint, e.g. to pay attention to the debt policy due to the negative impact of high indebtedness on firm profitability, and to the productivity factors, which proved to be important drivers of entrepreneurial success.

Although the firm-specific factors responsible for firm performance have already been studied, the food processing industry has received limited interest from the empirical analysts, and the results are not always unequivocal. This study is expected to contribute to the literature on this subject, both empirically and methodologically, as to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has been encountered yet where the factors determining the profitability of the Czech food processing industry have been the focus. With regards to the collected micro-data set and the estimation technique, the study can be considered as extensive not only from the perspective of the research in the Czech Republic but also from the international perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse to what extent industry, year and firm effects influence the profitability of the firms operating in the Czech food processing industry. The authors’ interest is also to investigate whether the profitability of a few firms (regarded as outliers) is able to influence the relative importance of year, firm and industry effects and to find out the relative importance of these effects for the majority of the firms.

The effects are tested using the fixed effects regression models on the unbalanced panel dataset which consists of 10,509 observations for 1,804 enterprises across the ten food sectors over the period 2003-2014. To ensure the consistency of the results, the authors use the three different measures of profitability: return on assets, return on equity and price-cost margin.

The results suggest that, on average, industry and year effects have little impact on firm profitability variance, and firm-specific effects dominate when seeking to explain firm profitability variance. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the obtained results are supported by most of the previously published studies.

Based on the findings, the authors encourage future researchers to add, as explanatory factors, governmental policies and to test their impact on firm profitability.

The study helps to fill in the research gap in the field of agribusiness, as, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has been conducted yet in the Czech agribusiness environment. Considering the approach distinguishing the “average” and dominant firms in the sectors, they aim at a methodological contribution to this field of research dealing with firm profitability variation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the firm-level drivers of competitiveness of the Czech small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using the complex firm-level competitiveness index. The authors explored the relationship between firm competitiveness and firm characteristics such as size, age, industry affiliation and location.

The complex competitiveness index as a proxy for firm competitiveness was calculated from the survey data. In total, 132 complete questionnaires filled in by representatives of randomly selected Czech SMEs were collected in 2018. Additional firm characteristics (size, age, industry affiliation and location) considered as determinants of competitiveness were obtained from the commercial database Albertina and from the Czech Statistical Office. The determinants of competitiveness were tested econometrically by estimation of multivariate regression models.

The authors mainly found a significant relationship between the firm size and competitiveness of the Czech SMEs. The authors have also confirmed that the least competitive enterprises are those operating in the agricultural sector and that regional location plays an important role in the determination of firm competitiveness.

The identification of competitiveness drivers can provide entrepreneurs, managers and policymakers with important implications. It seems beneficial for the Czech SMEs to expand the scope of operations to achieve a larger company size, for example, by focussing on investment activities, direct marketing, improving entrepreneurial skills or by applying an aggressive sales strategy, especially towards markets with lower competition. Politicians may respond to these efforts by setting the appropriate policies that promote SMEs’ competitiveness, for example, through the hard and soft public support for financial and human resources.

Although many studies on competitiveness have been published, there is still a limited number of firm-level studies looking at competitiveness from multiple angles rather than from the study of profitability and productivity. In contrast, the study uses a complex firm-level competitiveness index based on ten competitiveness pillars (technology, human capital, products, domestic market, networks, international markets, online presence, marketing, decision making and strategy) to capture the contribution of different resources and capabilities to firm competitiveness.

Even in established economies, empirical studies on the relationship between business incubation and firm performance do not show unequivocally positive results. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this debate based on the empirical evidence from the under-researched Central and Eastern European region in which no similar study has been conducted before. Due to the shorter experience with the management of business incubators and less developed institutions, business incubators may not be so effective in supporting their tenants in this region.

The authors utilise firm-level data from incubated Czech enterprises (n=205) founded after 2003 and compare them with those that have not received support from incubators. The authors implement three matching techniques to pair incubated and non-incubated companies. The outcome variables measured sales, price-cost margin, assets turnover, value added, size of total assets and size of personnel costs.

Compared to the control group, incubated firms reported on average lower values of the above-mentioned indicators. Presented study shows that Czech incubators have not been successful in supporting growth of incubated firms.

The study suggests that there is a clear room for improvements. Incubators should improve in attracting and selecting high potentials and in providing more effective support focussed on tenants’ growth, whereas policymakers should exercise stricter control regarding the money spent and effectiveness of incubators.

The empirical analysis was conducted based on the research gap in the studies related to the impact of business incubation in the under-researched Central and Eastern European region. It also shows that positive results from similar studies done in established economies cannot be taken for granted as they depend on the quality of institutions in a particular country.

This paper aims to analyse through a bibliometric study the academic literature that relates entrepreneurship to foods.

A database of 1,300 papers published in the ISI Web of Science was generated. The bibliometric techniques allowed us to describe scientific literature evolution, most productive authors, institutions and countries, most relevant sources and documents, trend topics and social structure.

The results illustrate an upward trend, more accentuated in the last four years, in publishing papers relating entrepreneurship to the food industry.

This research is novel because although numerous articles relate the food industry to entrepreneurship, no bibliometric articles that analyse the scientific production that relates both terms have been found in the literature.