Entrepreneurship Environment, Labour Market and Financial Risks Management

Dear Colleagues,

The entrepreneurship environment faces several challenges that hinder the creation and growth of new businesses. Access to capital remains a significant barrier, especially for early-stage ventures. Regulatory barriers, including complex and restrictive regulations, can stifle business formation and growth. Intense market competition makes it difficult for new businesses to establish themselves. Additionally, there is a shortage of skilled labour, making it challenging for startups to find and retain talented employees. Economic uncertainty further impacts businesses’ stability and growth prospects. In the labour market, skill mismatches are a prevalent issue, with a gap between the skills employers need and those that workers possess. Rapid technological advancements and automation are transforming industries, leading to job displacement and the need for continuous upskilling. Wage stagnation is another concern, as wages have not kept pace with productivity gains. Labour mobility is often limited by geographic and regulatory constraints, affecting the efficient allocation of labour. Unemployment and underemployment remain persistent problems, exacerbated by economic downturns and structural changes in the economy. Financial risk management is confronted with challenges such as market volatility, which can lead to significant financial losses. Credit risk, i.e., the possibility of a counterparty defaulting on its obligations, is a major concern for financial institutions. Ensuring sufficient liquidity to meet short-term obligations is a constant challenge, as liquidity risks can threaten an organization's financial stability. Operational risk, involving losses due to inadequate or failed internal processes, systems, or external events, also poses a threat. Additionally, keeping up with evolving regulatory requirements is resource-intensive and complex, adding to the burden on financial institutions.

We seek contributions on novel approaches to those challenges. We strongly encourage contributions whose findings are backed by solid empirical studies. We encourage possibly controversial papers seeking new innovative solutions to improve the quality of the entrepreneurial environment, the labour market, and financial risk management.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Violeta Šugar
Dr. Sergej Gričar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Risk and Financial Management is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• entrepreneurship
• labour market
• risk management
• quality
• external shocks
• data management
• time management
• big data
• prices
• costs
• processes