Ján Dvorský

Faculty of Management and Economics, 

Tomas Bata University in Zlín,

Czech Republic

dvorsky@utb.cz 

ORCID 0000-0002-6078-2636

Impact of social environment indicators on students´propensity to do business: Case study from central European countries

Zora Petráková

Faculty of Civil Engineering, 

Slovak University of Technology,

Slovak Republic

zora.petrakova@stuba.sk 

ORCID 0000-0002-1398-9415

Jiří Mezuláník

Institute of Entrepreneurship and Marketing,

University of Entrepreneurship and Law,

Czech Republic

jiri.mezulanik@vspp.cz 

Zdeněk Caha

Faculty of Corporate Strategy,

Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice,

Czech Republic

caha@mail.vstecb.cz 

ORCID 0000-0003-2363-034X

Abstract. The aim of the article is to identify and quantify the impact of selected social environment indicators on students’ propensity to do business. A survey-based questionnaire was conducted with students in the last year of their economic studies at 25 universities. The database contains 1,352 filled-out questionnaires showing Slovak, Czech and Polish students’ attitudes. A linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the formulated hypotheses. This approach was implemented separately for each country (Czech Republic - CR, Slovakia – SR, and Poland – PL). The results showed several findings. The comparison of social environment indicators’ impact on students’ propensity to do business confirmed common attitudes (significant indicator – support of family environment; not significant indicator – media) of students based on their nationality. The businessperson in a student´s family is the most important social environment indicator according to students’ attitudes for each country. The fact that society generally appreciates business people has a positive impact on Czech and Slovak students´ propensity to do business. Politicians and public perception of entrepreneurs as a social indicator has a negative impact on Czech students´ propensity to do business. The results are important for national and non-profit organizations that help young people to start a business.

Received: March, 2021

1st Revision: August, 2021

Accepted: September, 2021

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2021/14-3/13

JEL Classification: H70, L26, M13, M21

Keywords: propensity to do business, case study, impact, student, social environment, linear regression