Dr. Claret Ruane, resident development economist of the University of Guam-Pacific Center for Economic Initiatives and associate professor of economics and finance, School of Business and Public Administration told the Variety in an e-mail that participation has not been that good yet, with less than 20 respondents since last week but she is urging the community to participate and raise the number up to as high as 300.
Ruane said this number is the average number of respondents in her past three surveys on Guam conducted every six months. The survey is targeted towards residents aged 18 and above in the CNMI.
Asked if how the answers of the respondents can affect the economic climate in the region, Ruane said that the results on future prospects as well as spending and vacation plans could suggest stronger or weaker future demands for different products, including outbound air travel.
“The results will also give a broader picture of how CNMI consumers feel about the economy, not just the few that each of us get to talk to or those in our social circle,” Ruane said.
In addition, she said the survey results can be used by CNMI policymakers in their dialogue with the business and civic communities to explore areas to improve prospects for the local economy, both in the short run and in the long run.
This survey is part of a series of projects designed to begin and maintain updated and reliable data that will be useful for planning by policymakers, businesses and the local and regional community in general, and in preparation for the military build-up in the region, in particular.
Expectations
Ruane said that they are trying to conduct the first Business Confidence Survey in the CNMI to gauge businesses’ perception of their past performance as well as their future prospects.
She added that in their experience with local, regional and global economies in past 12 months and their prospects in the next 12 months, a low level of optimism may be expected among CNMI consumers compared to Guam if what the Gross Domestic Product and Department of Commerce’s economic indicators will be taken into consideration.
The survey
The consumer confidence survey has only 11 questions and will take about five minutes to fill up. Respondents will be asked how they rate local business conditions, local employment situation, local income situation, as well as regional and global business conditions if they think it is better, the same, worse or much worse than last year.
How the respondents look at the prospects of local business conditions, local employment situation, local income situation, regional and global business conditions is another section where the respondents can rate their expectations — whether they expect higher than this year’s, same as last year’s, lower or much lower than this year’s conditions.
Respondents will also be asked if they are planning to purchase new or used vehicles including boats, homes and other real estate, refrigerator/freezer, stove/cooking range/oven, television and other audio-visual equipment, washing machine/clothes dryer, and air conditioner.
The survey also includes questions if how likely or unlikely you are to take a vacation within Micronesia/Western Pacific, in Asia, U.S. mainland, and other destinations in the next 12 months. Finally, respondents will be asked to fill in personal information such as age, gender, ethnicity, education level and more.
Privacy assurance
Ruane said that in all surveys they have conducted for the University of Guam-PCEI, all the information they received will be treated and kept confidential.
The results of the survey will be published to disseminate to the public but only the aggregate/total results are reported, not individual information. Also, respondents’ information are safeguarded by PCEI and not passed on to anyone,” Ruane said.
She added that this type of survey is done every month in the U.S. and its results are highly publicized. To see the latest survey results for Guam, visit http://www.uog.edu.
The online survey is at http://www.keysurvey.com/survey/311781/141d/. It is also available at the Department of Commerce Web site at www.commerce.gov.mp.
