The reasons for the collapse of enterprises in Poland

Businesses operating in a market economy cannot guarantee the continuity of their operations. In economic realities, in addition to developing companies that work well, there are also companies that go bankrupt. The article aims to analyze the situation and indicate the reasons for the collapse of enterprises in Poland. To do this, an analysis of the number of newly created and liquidated enterprises was conducted on the basis of data from the Central Statistical Office and a synthesis of the causes of their collapse based on a review of the literature. The division of reasons for bankruptcy of companies into microeconomic reasons (endogenous, internal) and macroeconomic reasons (exogenous, external) is the most common. Microeconomic reasons lie in the enterprise - that is in its organizational structure, in the management system and in the economic information system. Macroeconomic causes of bankruptcy are defined as factors that are outside the sphere of direct influence of the enterprise. However, they have a great influence on the functioning of the economic entity, because they are directly or indirectly in its environment. External (exogenous) and internal (endogenous) causes of enterprise collapse differ in the ability to anticipate and prevent them, as well as the intensity of their consequences. It is difficult to unambiguously relate them to specific sectors, the size of the enterprise or place of business. Internal causes have a significant impact on businesses, but they are easier to identify, control and correct. External causes (although the force of influence is similar to internal ones) are much more difficult to predict, and their consequences are very severe. The paper presents a generalized list of endogenous and exogenous factors that cause bankruptcies.