Assessment of the Reasons for the Termination of Entrepreneurial Activity: Data for Various Countries in 2020

Abstract

The research featured the issue of business termination. The COVID-19 pandemic hit small and medium-sized businesses all over the world. The research objective was to assess various economic indicators in order to explain why entrepreneurs had to abandon their business in 2020. The study was based on the economic and mathematical models that represent the functions of normal distribution. The author analyzed the opinions of entrepreneurs from 39 countries, who were asked to explain why they had to give up their business. The survey was part of the Global Monitoring of Entrepreneurship. The analysis revealed four indicators that determined the positive and negative reasons for the entrepreneurs to stop their business activities. The article introduces some new information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this process. Most entrepreneurs (56.3 %) gave up their business for some pandemic-unrelated negative reasons. A quarter of them (28 %) were forced to close their businesses due to the negative consequences of the pandemic. Only one-sixth of the participants terminated their business activities for a positive reason. Further research will assess the consequences of the pandemic in 2021.