1998 WHARTON / CIBC WORLD MARKETS SURVEY OF FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT BY US NON-FINANCIAL FIRMS

The Weiss Center has recently conducted its third survey of derivatives and risk management practices by non-financial firms in the United States. This survey, which reports on the derivatives activity in over 400 major U.S. corporations was designed by Gordon Bodnar and Richard Marston of the Weiss Center and by Charles Smithson and Gregory Hayt of CIBC Wood Gundy. This year's survey includes questions about the export and import activities and currency invoicing policies of the firms, so it will be possible to link derivatives usage to the underlying foreign exchange exposures of these firms. A 30 page report, including the questionnaire with the response totals can be ordered from the Weiss Center’s office or downloaded in Adobe pdf format from the link at the top of this page or by clicking here.

The first two Wharton Derivative Surveys published in 1994 and 1996 were widely cited in the news media. Articles concerning these surveys were published in Barrons, Business Week, the Financial Times, Forbes and other publications, and the Nightly Business Report devoted a segment to the survey’s results. These surveys were later published in the Summer 1995 and Winter 1996 issues of Financial Management.

The Wharton survey has served as a model for parallel surveys in Germany (Frankfurt University), Canada (University of Waterloo), Japan (Nippon Life), and New Zealand (University of Auckland). Gordon Bodnar and Günther Gebhardt have written a study, "Derivatives Usage in Risk Management by U.S. and German Non-Financial Firms: A Comparative Survey", comparing the German and U.S. survey results. (See the list of Weiss Center working papers here).