Other ifo Surveys

In addition to the ifo Business Survey, which focuses on variables describing both the current economic situation and the outlook for the near future, along with the ifo HR survey, which collects information on HR measures, the ifo Institute has created yet another instrument to survey important topics for the German economy: The ifo Management Survey.

The “Manager Survey” was originally introduced in 1988 as a telephone survey to complement the ifo Institute’s written surveys. Eventually, the methodology was replaced by a paper questionnaire. At that time, the ifo Institute collaborated with the magazine “WirtschaftsWoche” to identify interesting topics and publish the results. With its relaunch in 2020, the survey was renamed as the “ifo Management Survey”, which is now conducted exclusively online. In this survey, a selected group of decision-makers in German companies are asked about their opinions on current economic policy issues and changes in the macroeconomic environment. The aim is to understand these decision-makers’ assessments of these topics and their potential impacts on corporate planning, and provide vital input for current economic debates and information for the public. Regarding the choice of topics and development of questions, the survey team works closely with the department’s research staff.

Unlike other company surveys conducted by the ifo Institute, the Management Survey does not have a fixed monthly or quarterly survey period. This makes it possible to react flexibly to current topics and to send the online questionnaire to the survey participants when needed. The publications with the results of the surveys can be found on the online project page.