Jakościowe wskaźniki złożone jako narzędzie analizy koniunktury gospodarczej

The author discusses the use of composite indicators based on qualitative data in monitoring the changes of business activity. The study refers to the experience accumulated in the developed market economies where synthetic indices derived from business survey data (business climate, business confidence, economic sentiment indicator etc.) are widely used in appraising the course of real business. The author begins with the presentation of theoretical premises underlying business surveys as the source of qualitative data on current economic conditions and prospects, supplementing qualitative statistics. Then he presents the experience of Western countries in developing composite indicators based on survey data. The author points to the merits of this method of assessing the tendencies of economic acivity.