Beyond Single Ratios: A Pattern-Based Validation of Financial Risk Resilience in Visegrad Economies

Research purpose. The growing frequency of macroeconomic shocks has reignited interest in the financial risk resilience of enterprises and their ability to absorb adverse disturbances. Existing empirical research relies predominantly on particular financial ratios to depict resilience, thus overlooking the overall impact of leverage and liquidity. The main aim of this paper is to empirically validate a pattern-based framework of financial risk resilience that encompasses combined liquidity-leverage configurations and to examine whether the distribution of these patterns differs systematically across post-transition economies. Focusing on enterprises operating in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries, the study investigates whether national financial environments contribute to persistent heterogeneity in financial risk resistance beyond firm-specific characteristics.

Design / Methodology / Approach. Using a large cross-country dataset of enterprises from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary, enterprises are classified into four financial risk resistance patterns based on median thresholds of leverage and liquidity. The non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests, along with Dunn’s post-hoc comparisons, are utilized to examine cross-country differences in financial constraints, supplemented by effect size estimates using epsilon squared to determine economic relevance. A multinomial logistic regression model is developed to test the robustness of the non-parametric findings and to account for firm-level heterogeneity while controlling for firm size and sectoral affiliation.

Findings. The findings reveal significant differences in financial risk resistance patterns across V4 economies. Hungarian and Polish enterprises have a higher prevalence of high-leverage and low-liquidity configurations, whereas Czech firms are predominantly characterised by low leverage and strong internal liquidity. Although non-parametric studies demonstrate statistically significant cross-country differences in leverage and liquidity, effect sizes imply that these differences are economically modest. The multinomial regression analysis shows that country affiliation remains a significant predictor of pattern membership even after controlling for firm size and sectoral composition.

Originality / Value / Practical implications. This study contributes to the literature by extending beyond single-ratio approaches and providing large-scale empirical validation of a pattern-based financial risk resilience framework in post-transition economies. The findings underscore the importance of considering combined liquidity–leverage configurations for measuring firm resilience and proposing policy interventions. From a practical perspective, the pattern-based classification facilitates the identification of financially vulnerable enterprises and encourages enhanced regulatory and risk management strategies.