The ‘U-turn’: Business confi dence in a Karoo town

Abstract

Business confidence helps explain the sentiments that business owners or managers have towards current and future business conditions. This article compares several ways of measuring business confi dence. Business confi dence is mostly surveyed at the level of the nation-state rather than at the level of municipalities or towns. This article provides a methodology for business-confi dence surveys at the local level. This approach has been piloted in the town of Beaufort West in the Karoo area of South Africa. There are plans for a new uranium mine near Beaufort West, and the researchers speculate on its impact on the broader local business confi dence.