KEYSTONE BUSINESS CLIMATE SURVEY Fall 2001

Columnist : Lincoln Institute

1.) In general, do you have a POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, or NO OPINION of Pennsylvania Attorney General Michael Fisher?

52%    POSITIVE
16%    NEGATIVE
32%    NO OPINION

2.) In general, do you have a POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, or NO OPINION of Pennsylvania State Treasurer Barbara Hafer?

47%    POSITIVE
23%    NEGATIVE
30%    NO OPINION

3.) In general, do you have a POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, or NO OPINION of Pennsylvania Auditor General Robert P. Casey, Jr.?

26%    POSITIVE
48%    NEGATIVE
26%    NO OPINION

4.) In general, do you have a POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, or NO OPINION of former Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell?

47%    POSITIVE
26%    NEGATIVE
27%    NO OPINION

5.) If you are a registered Democrat, and the Primary Election for Governor of Pennsylvania were held today, would you vote for Edward Rendell or Robert P. Casey, Jr.?

49%    RENDELL
24%    CASEY
27%    UNDECIDED

6.) If you are a registered Republican, and the Primary Election for Governor of Pennsylvania were held today, would you vote for Michael Fisher or Barbara Hafer?

47%    FISHER
26%    HAFER
27%    UNDECIDED

7.) If the General Election for Governor of Pennsylvania were held today and the choices were Republican Barbara Hafer and Democrat Robert P. Casey, Jr., for whom would you vote?

50%    HAFER
24%    CASEY
26%    UNDECIDED

8.) If the General Election for Governor of Pennsylvania were held today and the choices were Republican Barbara Hafer and Democrat Edward Rendell, for whom would you vote?

40%    HAFER
40%    RENDELL
20%    UNDECIDED

9.) If the General Election for Governor of Pennsylvania were held today and the choices were Republican Michael Fisher and Democrat Robert P. Casey, Jr., for whom would you vote?

60%    FISHER
16%    CASEY
24%    UNDECIDED

10.) If the General Election for Governor of Pennsylvania were held today and the choices were Republican Michael Fisher and Democrat Edward Rendell, for whom would you vote?

50%    FISHER
29%    RENDELL
21%    UNDECIDED

11.) Thinking of the race for Governor of Pennsylvania, please rate the following issues in terms of what you think their importance should be in that campaign: (Please circle your answer with 1 being a very important issue and 5 being a relatively unimportant issue.)

1 2 3 4 5
HEALTH CARE   33%   35%   21%   7%   2%
EDUCATION 46% 32% 14% 5% 2%
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 26% 33% 22% 14% 2%
LAND USE 11% 17% 40% 20% 10%
ENVIRONMENT REGULATIONS 14% 13% 33% 24% 12%
TORT REFORM/LAWSUIT ABUSE 50% 23% 13% 7% 4%
WORKER’S COMPENSATION 26% 26% 30% 12% 3%
BUSINESS TAXES 37% 29% 26% 4% 2%
PERSONAL TAXES 27% 29% 31% 8% 3%
STATE BUSINESS CLIMATE 55% 26% 15% 1% 1%


SECTION II

 1.) In general, do you think business conditions in Pennsylvania are better, the same, or worse than they were six months ago?

12%    BETTER
37%    SAME
47%    WORSE
4%      NO OPINION

2.) Looking ahead six months, do you think business conditions will be better, the same, or worse than they are now?

13%    BETTER
33%    SAME
47%    WORSE
7%      NO OPINION

3.) Are employment levels at your company higher, the same, or lower than they were six months ago?

28%    HIGHER
43%    SAME
28%    LOWER
1%      NO OPINION

4.) Looking ahead six months, do you anticipate that employment levels at your company will be higher, stay the same, or be lower?

23%    HIGHER
53%    SAME
21%    LOWER
3%      NO OPINION

5.) Have your company’s sales increased, stayed relatively the same, or decreased during the past six months?

40%    INCREASED
29%    SAME
31%    DECREASED

6.) Do you expect your company’s sales to increase, stay relatively the same, or decrease during the coming six months?

32%    INCREASE
49%    SAME
18%    DECREASE
1%      NO OPINION

7.) At any point in the past six months has your company considered moving all or part of its Pennsylvania operations to another state?

5%      DID MOVE SOME OPERATIONS
9%      CONSIDERED MOVING SOME OPERATIONS
2%      CONSIDERED MOVING ALL OPERATIONS
1%      MOVED OPERATIONS INTO PA
76%    DIDN’T CONSIDER ANY MOVES
7%      NO ANSWER

8.) Do you foresee at any point in the coming six months your company considering moving all or part of its Pennsylvania operations to another state?

2%      MAY MOVE ALL OPERATIONS
13%    MAY MOVE SOME OPERATIONS
81%    NOT CONSIDERING ANY MOVES
1%      MAY MOVE INTO PA
3%      NO ANSWER

9.) In general, do you have a positive, negative, or no opinion of the job performance of the following individuals?

POSITIVE  NEGATIVE  NO OPINION
President George W. Bush 89% 7% 4%
Alan Greenspan 79% 13% 8%
U.S. Senator Arlen Specter 41% 38% 21%
U.S. Senator Rick Santorum 67% 19% 14%
Governor Tom Ridge 85% 5% 10%

 10.) In general, do you have a positive, negative, or no opinion of the job performance of the following institutions?

 POSITIVE  NEGATIVE  NO OPINION
United State Senate 46% 42% 12%
U.S. House of Representatives 52% 33% 15%
Pennsylvania Senate 50% 26% 24%
PA House of Representatives 51% 26% 23%


METHODOLOGY

The Lincoln Institute’s Fall 2001 Keystone Business Climate Survey was mailed on September 10, 2001 to 2,000 Pennsylvania-based businesses with a minimum of 100 employees working in the commonwealth. As of the response deadline of September 28, 2001, a total of 129 surveys had been received for tabulation.