Respondent Dynamics within the NZIER Survey of Business Opinion: An Introductory Perspective

This paper considers respondent dynamics within the NZIER quarterly survey of business opinion. The paper concentrates mainly on the potential usefulness of matched and individual survey responses with particular reference to business confidence. The main framework is a three-by-three matrix of responses by firms who have participated in adjacent surveys. This framework provides information on the dynamics (flows) of business opinion as opposed to the usual published information on end-of-period net balances (stocks). The paper highlights the volatility of business opinion with respect to both economy-wide and own-outlook. Almost half the firms replying to adjacent surveys, for example, changed their outlook between quarters regarding business confidence, output and profitability.