Sylwester Kozak

Institute of Economy and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences,

Poland

sylwester_kozak@sggw.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0001-9485-6704

COVID-19 and the risk of bankruptcy for agricultural enterprises in Poland. Does the type of activity matter?

Agata Wierzbowska

Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University,

Japan

wierzbowska@econ.kobe-u.ac.jp

ORCID 0000-0001-8641-3217

Abstract. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions in the operation of agricultural enterprises. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the capacity of Polish agricultural enterprises to mitigate the risk of bankruptcy. The sample comprised over four thousand enterprises operating during the period 2014-2021. The enterprises were grouped by their primary activity, while the risk of bankruptcy was measured using Altman’s Z-score. The financial data on enterprises was sourced from the EMIS database, and the macroeconomic indicators were taken from Statistics Poland data. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Z-score was examined using panel regression with fixed effects. Unlike in the case of enterprises operating in other countries, the research has shown that changes in social, economic and regulatory conditions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic have enhanced the capacity of Polish agricultural enterprises to mitigate the risk of bankruptcy. The extent of such influence depended on the nature of agricultural activity undertaken by the enterprise. The most significant surge in mitigation capacity was observed for enterprises specialising in plant production: cultivation of cereals, legumes, oil crops and other plants, as well as cultivation of fruit trees, bushes and vegetables. Furthermore, enterprises that combine agricultural crop cultivation and animal husbandry, as well as those engaged in forest management, hunting, and timber harvesting, also exhibited positive changes.

Received: November, 2024

1st Revision: May, 2025

Accepted: September, 2025

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2025/18-3/6

JEL Classification: E00, G33, Q13

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Z-score, agricultural enterprises, Poland