Dynamics of survey responses before and during the pandemic : entropy and dissimilarity measures applied to business tendency survey data

This article is set within the framework of studies focusing on the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the dynamics of economic activity. For the purposes of the analysis of the expectations expressed in business tendency surveys, the paper aims to verify whether the pandemic of 2020-2022 can be seen as just another contraction phase. Entropy and dissimilarity measures are employed to study the characteristics of the expectations and assessments expressed in the business tendency survey of Polish manufacturing companies. The empirical results show that the dynamics of the manufacturing sector data, particularly as far as general economic conditions are concerned, set the pandemic period apart. The economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic expressed in business tendency surveys tend to be unfavourable, but the statistical properties or the degree of the concentration of respondents' answers do not correspond closely either to the expansion or contraction phases of the business cycle.