Der Einzelhandel in Deutschland steckt in einer Krise, seit Mitte 2002 gehen beispielsweise die nominalen Umsätze beständig zurück. Zuletzt hat sich jedoch das ifo Geschäftsklima für den Einzelhandel im Dezember 2004 und im Januar 2005 positiv entwickelt. Da das ifo Geschäftklima aber ein...

For a bivariate data set the dependence structure cannot only be measured globally, for example with the Bravais-Pearson correlation coefficient, but the dependence structure can also be analysed locally. In this article the exploration of dependencies in the tails of the bivariate distribution...

This Handbook aims to provide an overview of regular survey activities, as well as to show how survey results can be used scientifically in the context of business-cycle analysis and forecasting.

Business tendency surveys are a popular instrument for business cycle analysis. The survey results are used to calculate leading business cycle indicators. For Germany the Ifo Institute publishes the Ifo business climate, which consists of the results of two questions: one question about the...

Business cycle indicators are used to assess the economic situation of countries or regions. They are closely watched by the public, but are not easy to interpret. Does a current movement of the indicator signal a turning point or not? With the help of Markov Switching Models movements of...

This paper presents a composite leading indicator for the Swiss business cycle corresponding to the growth rate cycle concept. It is the result of a complete overhaul of the KOF Economic Barometer that has been published by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute on a monthly basis since 1976. In line...