NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- CEOs in the United States feel gloomier about prospects for revenue growth in 2008 than do virtually all their peers in the other 100 countries surveyed, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' 11th annual Global CEO Survey, released today at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
In the face of turmoil in credit markets and financial exchanges, along with widespread recession fears, the percentage of U.S. chief executives who said they are "very confident" about revenue growth over the next 12 months fell by nearly a third, from 53 percent last year to just 36 percent this year -- among the lowest of all geographies surveyed. In comparison, CEO confidence globally fell just two percentage points from last year to 50 percent, buoyed by increased confidence in such booming emerging markets as China and India.
However, the survey also showed that -- in the longer term -- U.S. CEOs are more confident than CEOs worldwide, indicating the acute nature of the current sub-prime crisis and an underlying confidence in the resilience of the American economy. When looked at over the next three years, 49 percent of respondents in the U.S. said they are "very confident" about revenue growth, versus 42 percent globally.
James Flanagan, partner and financial services sector leader at PwC, said the survey findings make clear that "the credit crunch and problems in the financial services sector are behind the near-term pessimism reported by U.S. CEOs."
Flanagan said he's encouraged, however, by the fact that U.S. CEOs expressed greater optimism over the long haul. "There's a sense, I think, of residual strength in the U.S. economy, and in the financial services sector, in particular, which gives rise to a better outlook down the road."
Less Engaged on Climate Change
PricewaterhouseCoopers' CEO Survey also found that U.S. CEOs and their companies were less engaged on the issue of climate change than other executives around the world. While 72 percent of CEOs, globally, agreed that businesses need to collaborate more effectively with industry peers and business partners in mitigating climate change, just 52 percent of American CEOs felt that way -- the lowest of all countries surveyed. Moreover, only 23 percent of U.S. CEOs agreed that their company is investing "significant resources" to address the risks and opportunities of climate change -- 14 points lower than the global average.
According to the survey, U.S. CEOs were also the most skeptical of CEOs worldwide of the role that government should play in addressing climate change. Only 63 percent U.S. CEOs agreed that governments should take a greater leadership role in determining mitigation strategies for climate change compared to 82 percent of CEOs worldwide. The differences are even starker when U.S. results are compared to the emerging economies of Asia, where 90 percent of CEOs agree that greater government intervention is needed. This is not altogether surprising given the region's rapid industrialization, where resources are in high demand and ecosystems from the atmosphere to major rivers have already shown signs of damage.
Survey Methodology
For PricewaterhouseCoopers' 11th Annual Global CEO Survey, 1,150 interviews with CEOs were conducted in 50 countries during the last quarter of 2007. A total of 130 U.S. CEOs participated. The majority of interviews were conducted by telephone. A postal survey was administered in Japan. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in Kenya. The research was coordinated by the PricewaterhouseCoopers International Survey Unit, Belfast, Northern Ireland, in cooperation with project managers and a global advisory board of PricewaterhouseCoopers partners. By region, 540 interviews were conducted in Western Europe, 277 in Asia Pacific, 136 in Latin America (including Mexico), 160 in North America and 37 in the Middle East and Africa.
Survey respondents included a mix of public and private companies across a range of sizes. Nearly 40 percent of the companies surveyed had revenues in excess of $1 billion, and a further 39 percent had revenues of $100 million to $1 billion. The remaining 23 percent had revenues of less than $100 million. Company ownership is recorded as private for 47 percent of the companies, with the remaining 53 percent listed on at least one stock exchange.
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For more information on the PricewaterhouseCoopers 2008 Global CEO Survey, log onto http://www.pwc.com/ceosurvey.