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Tag: enterprise survey
13 of September, 2013Research
Improving Business Conditions, Uncertain Outlook Results of the IEER SME Outlook (July 2013)

Within the framework of the SME Outlook research, since January 2005 the HCCI Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER) conducts a quarterly analysis of the situation of small and medium sized enterprises, their short-term prospects, as well as the economic and institutional factors affecting this business group. For this project a total of 300 companies operating within the fields of manufacturing, construction and services is surveyed and the data is analyzed in every quarter. The structure of the sample remains the same from quarter to quarter, with the companies surveyed representing the economic performance and sector distribution of small and medium sized enterprises in Hungary.

Indicators pertaining to the current situation of small and medium sized enterprises were mixed and somewhat negative for the second quarter of 2013. Compared to the previous quarter, only the business situation indicator increased for all current situation indicators. By contrast, future expectations indicate optimism, because apart from stagnation in employment numbers, all other forward-looking indicators increased; this was particularly evident in the sharp increase in anticipated investment activity.

On the following link an English summary of the paper can be downloaded.

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29 of May, 2013Research
SME Outlook (April 2013)

According to preliminary statistics data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO, or KSH in Hungarian), seasonally and calendar-adjusted gross domestic product fell by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period last year, but compared to the previous quarter a 0.7% increase was observed.

Indicators pertaining to the current situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showed a consistent picture for the first quarter of 2013. Compared to the previous quarter, current situation indicators had all increased slightly. Expectations for the next year don't reflect this optimism, however; particularly evident is the sharp decline in expected investment activity.

The overall effect of these contradictory results has led the SME Business Climate Index to idle after experiencing a strong rise during the previous survey; although the value is still rising, it's at a much slower rate than in the previous quarter. The Uncertainty Index declined somewhat; in other words, a decline can be seen in the diversity of opinions of SME assessments toward their current and expected business situations.

The share of small and medium-sized enterprises with bank loans has been steadily declining since October 2011; its current value is at 62%. In terms of loan type, it can be stated that firms are still mostly indebted in HUF. The proportion of business loans in Euros and Swiss francs has declined significantly since April 2012, and currently represents 25% and 1.1% respectively of all SME loans.

During the past half year 17% of the businesses surveyed inquired at a bank about the possibility of borrowing money, which is a rate two percentage points lower than in April 2012.

On the following link an English summary of the paper can be downloaded.

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1 of April, 2013Research
Results of the IEER Business Climate Survey – April 2013

April 2013 was the thirty-first occasion of the HCCI Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER) business climate survey which is based on the cumulative response of more than 14,000 companies and conducted in April and October of each year, with the participation of regional chambers. It is the largest and most extensive business climate survey of its kind in Hungary. The research is part of the 14 million enterprise-wide Eurochambres survey of the European economy. In April this year 3,500 firms filled out our questionnaire -- our study is based on these responses.

The IEER business climate index rose 2.3 points from the October level of 1.9 points, and now stands at 4.2 points. This is still characterized as a weak positive result, which is underscored when the data is compared to the level in April of each year: this is the second lowest level since the start of the study (1998). The value of the uncertainty index is at the 43.6-point level. This suggests that within the business community there is still no clear or unanimous opinion of current trends. In addition, together with data available on the current performance of the Hungarian economy and the IEER business climate data, our attention is drawn to the slight decrease in uncertainty surrounding the current year

On the following link an English summary of the paper can be downloaded.

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1 of March, 2013Research
IEER SME Outlook Survey January 2013

The results of the January 2013 IEER SME Outlook business climate survey reveal more favourable economic conditions compared to the previous quarter. The SME Outlook Business Climate Index (BCI) increased from -6.6 to 5.4 percentage points, which is the highest value since July 2011. Regarding the Uncertainty Index stagnation can be observed, which means that there is no change in the perception of the SMEs about their current and expected business situation. The Uncertainty Index is at a current level of 41 percentage points, which is almost the same as the value measured in the preceding quarter (it was 42 percentage points in October 2013).

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1 of February, 2013Research
Corruption and Satisfaction: SME Managers on Corruption

The following analysis was prepared within the framework of a joint quarterly research project entitled "SME Perspectives", involving the HCCI Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER) and Volksbank. For the survey a sample of about 300 small and medium enterprises with similar structures and elements were used.

In our analysis we try to find out to what extent does the perception of corruption affect satisfaction with the institutional environment, and what kind of corruption experiences have the greatest effect on this satisfaction. First, we present the company managers' perceptual changes towards corruption and also how their satisfaction with the institutional environment has evolved during the period from 2005 to 2010. Then, we search the variables that affect the development of this satisfaction. Our analysis shows that the higher the degree of corruption, the more negatively managers regard the institutional environment. Among the different corruption experiences cited, what makes managers significantly dissatisfied is, firstly, when they feel that their company has to pay bribes in order to get anywhere economically and, secondly, whether they consider corruption to be a major problem or not. Research of corruption is partly based on perception. Our analysis shows that subjective opinions are still relevant in the sense that much depends on personal experiences with corruption.

On the following link an English summary of the paper can be downloaded.

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1 of January, 2013Research
Results of the IEER Business Climate Survey – January 2013

January 2013 was the thirteenth occasion of the quarterly business climate survey of the Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER). For this study, a total of 400 companies are followed every quarter that are representative of the economic performance and sector distribution of firms operating in Hungary. A survey of changes in ten different business climate indicators related to the business situation and prospects of firms are analyzed and summarized in the format of the IEER Business Climate Index.

The latest results reveal a more favourable economic condition compared to the previous quarter. The IEER quarterly Business Climate Index increased significantly; following a low point from the previous quarter, it jumped to a level last measured in the second quarter of 2011. For both the current business situation of enterprises and short-term expectations positive changes uniformly took place in late 2012: in the following half-year all indicators had risen sharply. In terms of expected changes in staff numbers, optimism hitherto never before seen in the history of the survey was reported. After high growth in indicators for expected investment activity, those representing intensification of investments entered positive territory. The value for the uncertainty index compared to the previous quarter slightly decreased, indicating a decrease in the diversity of opinions on views toward the current and expected business situation of enterprises

On the following link an English summary of the paper can be downloaded.

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30 of November, 2012Research
Short-Term Labor Market Prognosis for 2013

Autumn 2012 marked the seventh collaboration between the Hungarian Labour Inspectorate and the Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER) for an empirical study into the short-term forecasts of the economic prospects of the private sector and the labour market decisions of firms. In the latest survey into short-term labour market projections, 6,782 company managers were interviewed about current and future workforce prospects.
The results showed that a slightly positive intention to hire more workers can be detected in the expectations of the Hungarian private sector for the coming year. While in 2012 the number of companies that increased their workforce was 10 percentage points higher than those that decreased their employee numbers, in 2013 the corresponding figure was 14 percent. Accordingly, more companies are expected to hire next year than was the case for this year.

In 2013, the likely scenario is of 0.2 percent decrease in the number of employees in the private sector. A pessimistic scenario sees a 0.8 percent decline while an optimistic scenario sees a 1 percent increase in the number of employees in the private sector. The likely scenario is that the number of industrial employees may grow by 0.5 percent. By contrast, all other economic sectors are likely to fall, especially agriculture, where a 1.8 percent decline is expected. It is important to emphasize that the agricultural sector is also expected to decrease under the optimistic scenario as well.

On the following link an English summary of the paper can be downloaded.

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24 of May, 2011Research
Court of Justice (2007)

IEER conducted a survey – between 3 and 7 September 2007 – among enterprises about their opinions on the legal settlement options between enterprises and on the working processes of Hungarian tribunals. We analysed the answers – sent back by post, e-mail, fax or online format – of 321 enterprises. In addition, we used telephone queries with legal representatives of 50 large companies. On this research, IEER worked together with the Supreme Court of Hungary and the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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17 of May, 2011Research
Vocational School Research Program – 2011

This research program aims helping the regional development and training committees (RFKB – in Hungarian) in order to establish a quota of the maximum number of different vocational trainings. The research is based on IEER's own large-sample empiric survey from 2011. The survey covered the opinion of different agents of the labor demand such as micro-, small-, medium-, and large sized enterprises, and it also aimed to find out the opportunities that a recent graduate has on the labor market. In the analysis, we also evaluated the expected labour demand for vocational school graduates and compared the results to the expected number of recent graduates in 2014.

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1 of April, 2011Research
Business Climate 1/2011 (April)

The Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research conducts a survey on the business climate among Hungarian enterprises since 1998. The survey relies on the answers of 1300-2000 managers and measures their opinion twice a year, every April and October and as such it gives the most extended sample of enterprises in Hungary among the similar business tendency surveys. Our research is part of an Eurochambres survey, all together involving more than 14 million enterprises to a European business tendency survey research program by now. In the past ten years, our findings seem to predict accurately the expected change in the GDP of Hungary. Our key findings had been used by OECD, IMF and the Hungarian government as well.

This time, our database consists the answers of 1803 enterprises. After the turning-point in October 2009, the business anticipations of Hungarian enterprises are continuously ameliorated: the indicators seem still to be in positive range even in comparison with last year. While the IEER Business Climate Index stayed at +10.4 last October, by April 2011 it reached +16.8. According to our results, the recession in the Hungarian economy is now over its nadir, there are improving business anticipations and business confidence. Although way out of recession has started in October 2009, the process is rather slow.

The IEER Uncertainty Index did not change over the last half a year; still stays at value 45.5 which is considered to be high. This means that there are still a significant number of enterprises without counting on the improvement of business climate.

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