Knowledge transfer as a feature of small and medium-sized enterprises’ resilience to challenging economic conditions: evidence from peripheral countries

The aim of this paper is to examine whether and how peripheral countries differ in terms of knowledge transfer as a feature of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) resilience to challenging economic conditions (economic shocks). The study focuses on the Visegrad Group countries, which are peripheral within the European Union, offering a unique research context due to their similar cultural backgrounds and transition from centrally planned to market economies. The research covers the period 2016−2023, a period characterised by inflationary pressures and the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses a comparative analysis and zero unitarization method to test the hypothesis. The results demonstrate that while there were significant differences in the level of knowledge transfer in the peripheral countries studied, all Visegrad Group countries showed a consistent upward tendency in knowledge transfer over the analysis period. The study contributes to the growing body of research on firms’ resilience by suggesting that knowledge transfer in the periphery serves as a mechanism to increase SMEs’ resilience to market or environmental disturbances and, more broadly, to the sustainable development of countries.