Operation of Business Supporting Networks: Evidence from an EU Candidate Country

Business firms operate in a certain environment in which they interact with one another, with individuals, governmental organizations, financial institutions and various other interest groups. Operation of respective social networks (both voluntary and private market-determined) may have an important effect to the overall business environment. This paper presents and analyses some results of the special sample survey of Estonian firms undertaken in 1994-2000. Our main attention in this paper is paid to business supporting services provided by various institutions and to the operation of disputesí resolution mechanism, using social networks concept ñ other related issues see Vensel and Wihlborg (2001). It is argued that the state enforcement mechanism is working weekly in the still unstable legal environment and firms have to use different self-enforcement mechanisms (through social networks) to resolve disputes. Social networks are also used for obtaining additional financing of the business. The success of the operation of social networks depends on the government economic policy.