FT-Economist Business Barometer: May 2011

The Financial Times and The Economist are building what we hope will become the definitive global barometer of business sentiment.

Carried out quarterly for the FT and The Economist by the Economist Intelligence Unit and based on interviews with more than 1,500 business executives around the world, it will highlight not only the change in business sentiment but the differences between regions and sectors.

It will also help pinpoint what corporate leaders see as the biggest risks over the coming months as well as gauging their views on other topical issues.

Methodology

Based on a global survey of the Economist Intelligence Unit executive panel. Respondents were selected from a cross-section of industries, company sizes, and represented a range of senior roles. The survey was conducted online.

• Almost half of the executives surveyed were in the so-called c-suite – they held jobs at the very top of companies with titles that included the word “chief” – and almost half of the groups they worked for had a turnover of more than $500m.
• More than a quarter of the executives who responded worked for companies that operated in more than 25 countries.
• Over one-third of the companies that took part were western European, a quarter were from the Asia-Pacific region, nearly 20 per cent were from North America and the rest from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and eastern Europe.

The survey, conducted for The Economist and the Financial Times by the Economist Intelligence Unit, was carried out online between April 14 and May 16.