Circular Economy as a Determinant of Environmental Behavior and Engagement of Business Subjects in Slovakia

Abstract

The paper focuses on the current issue of business and its environmental aspects with regard to the circular economy in the Slovak business environment. As indicators of corporate environmental behavior, companies' approaches to the circular economy, willingness to invest in environmental technologies and implement environmental innovations, and character interactions of companies with the market and competition are defined. One of the approaches that forms the basis of such behavior is the circular economy. The aim of the article is to define the environmental behavior of Slovak companies and their decision-making on the concretization of environmental approaches and strategies in business activity and to identify the areas of concretization of the environmental behavior of Slovak companies operating in various industries and their environmental engagement. It was based on the assumption that Slovak companies show environmental awareness depending on their size, economic strength and the subject of their business. Factor analysis based on the KMO test was used to identify the individual groups of environmental approaches that are applied within the company's business activities, thus verifying the correlation between the variables. The highest intensity of environmental manifestations of business behavior was expected for economically strong companies operating in manufacturing sectors located in the western regions of Slovakia with the highest interaction with customers and partners who take into account the environmental behavior of companies and competitors. An increase in the intensity and a stronger enforcement of environmental behavior in the business activities of Slovak business entities compared to the present will require an increase in the support of the business environment at the macro, meso, and micro levels. Not only high-quality legislation or various support mechanisms in the financial and technological fields, but also continuous information of these business subjects and effective support of science and research are essential.