We study the (macroeconomic) consistency of individual firm-level business tendency survey responses and take firm-level heterogeneity
explicitly into account. Adding firm-level, industry- and region-specific structural characteristics allows controlling for
additional microeconomic heterogeneity. The dataset we use are the business tendency survey micro data for Austrian manufacturing
covering the time period 1996 to 2012. Our results show that firm-specific information embedded in the qualitative survey
questions is relevant to understand aggregate business cycle dynamics. For example, the assessment of firms' order book levels,
their current degree of capacity utilisation and their production expectations as well as obstacles in their production activities
due to insufficient demand show evidence of a significant effect in explaining a firm's change in current production output.
However, we do not find clear results with respect to firm size, nor do we find explanatory power of the industry affiliation
of a firm and with respect to regional characteristics. We are able to identify heterogeneity in behaviour for cyclical up-
and downswings as well as between large and small firms.
Keywords:business cycle, business tendency surveys, firm-level expectations, ordered probit KP_Berichte_Analysen
Forschungsbereich:Makroökonomie und öffentliche Finanzen – Industrie-, Innovations- und internationale Ökonomie