Every two years the members of GIRET (= Centre for International Re­ search on Economic Tendency Surveys) meet at conferences in order to promote the scientific discussion and to encourage the exchange of ideas. CIRET is an international study group for research in the field of business cycle surveys. CIRET was founded in 1960 and has at present about 350 full and corresponding members in 35 different coun­ tries. The members either carry out business, investment or consumer 1 surveys or are working on a practical or methodological level with the results of such surveys. The most important topics of the GIRET conferences are the predictive value of survey data as trade cycle indicators, the utilization of qualitative data in econometric models, forecasts of capital expenditures based on plans of private companies, the usefulness of consumer surveys for trade cycle analyses. In September 1977 the 13th CIRET Conference took place in Munich. On the occasion of the three-day conference 27 papers were presented.

Inhalt

Psychological Infection, A Cause of Business Fluctuations.- Consumer Sentiment and Economic Trends.- The Causal Structure of Expectations in the Confederation of British Industry Industrial Trends Survey.- Content and Determinants of Judgemental and Expectational Variables in the IFO Business Survey.- Qualitative Indicators in International Business Cycle Analysis.- Forecasting Foreign Trade with Leading Indicators.- Application of Leading Indicators with Regard to Industrial Planning.- Entrepreneurs' Perception of Social Environment and its Influence on Growth Expectations.- Principal Component Analyses with Data from the EEC-Entrepreneurial and Consumer Surveys.- World-wide Study on Social Indicators and Quality of Life.- More on Capital Expenditure Anticipations.- Some Uses of the Capacity Concept in Understanding Investment Behavior.- Table 1-7.- Annex A: List of Papers presented at the 13th CIRET-Conference 14-16 September 1977 in Munich.- Annex B: List of CIRET Studies.