By using the Economic Sentiment Indicator and Autoregressive Markov Switching models, this paper provides an effective tool to identify and characterize expectations of business cycle phases for Germany, Spain, the Euro Area, and the European Union. This information is useful for policy makers...

The COVID-19 pandemic and induced economic and social constraints have significantly impacted the confidence of both consumers and businesses. Despite that, comprehensive studies of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumer and business sentiment are still lacking. Thus, in our...

The renewed decline in GDP in the first quarter and the recent deterioration in leading indicators have increased concerns that the aftermath of the energy crisis and the tightening of monetary policy may weigh more heavily on the economy than expected. However, all in all it is more likely that...