The ERM and Scottish industry: preliminary findings

This paper presents the results of a recent questionnaire survey of the Top 300 Scottish Companies (as defined in the Scottish Business Insider database) on the impact of sterling's membership of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). It is based partly on a previous pilot study conducted on a smaller sample of Scottish companies (approximately 30). The earlier study was completed during the Summer of 1991 and was retrospective in design. It covered a series of questions relating to the benefits (perceived or otherwise) of ERM membership to Scottish firms. The majority of the questions were retrospective in the sense that they were concerned with (for example): whether Scottish companies trade with Europe had improved as a result of ERM membership. Some of these questions (with adaptations) have been carried forward to this study, although the present study has an emphasis on future prospects rather than past results. Examples of the questions used appear later.