Research & Commentary
These posts provide analysis and commentary on quarterly survey results, including results from special questions. To read news articles about The CFO Survey, visit our Media Mentions page.
Our first CFO Survey of 2025 explored the extent to which firms' supplies are imported from countries facing tariffs and how this exposure impacts firms' expectations.
In the most recent CFO Survey, we explored how the economic outlook of financial executives changed following the 2024 U.S. presidential and congressional elections.
This post explores how firms whose investment plans were negatively impacted by election-related uncertainty differ from non-impacted firms in optimism levels, growth expectations, and investment motivations.
As the capabilities of generative AI continue to improve, the CFO Survey can provide us insights on the impact these tools are having on firms and the growth of their productivity.
The most recent CFO Survey indicates that most firms expect pricing pressures to persist during 2024, and firms implementing automation are expecting slower price growth than those who are not.
In this report, we investigate how the firms that adopted automation differ — in performance and expectations — from those that did not adopt automation.
This quarter's Research & Commentary digs into an important question facing policymakers: whether the constellation of economic indicators have returned close enough to "normal" levels to merit a reconsideration of the monetary policy stance.
In the most recent CFO survey, financial decision-makers shared whether interest rate hikes have caused them to pull back on their spending plans, and for those not yet affected, whether further hikes would impact their firm. Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, a higher percentage of firms reported that interest rates have curtailed capital and non-capital spending plans.
The current outlook of small firms is noticeably worse than for large firms. On average, small firms report being more affected by tight financing conditions, are less optimistic about the economy and their own prospects, and expect lower revenue growth in 2023.
In the first quarter 2023 CFO Survey, an increasing share of firms cited 'unfavorable financing' and a 'lack of funding' as reasons for not engaging in capital investment. This evidence suggests that firms are beginning to feel the effects of higher interest rates as monetary policy continues to tighten.
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