The networking-basis are the international conferences that are held every other year. They last four days and provide interested researchers (including CIRET members) with the opportunity to present and discuss their latest research activities mainly within specially selected groups. The biennial conference is the meeting place for top scientists from all over the world and successfully integrates the theoretical aspects as well as the perspectives of those who are primarily engaged in applying survey data. The goal is to develop consistent and applicable explanatory patterns for cyclical fluctuations and to overcome the divergence of empirical, theoretical and policy activities. The conferences are held in one of the Member countries. They are organized in cooperation with so called local organizers. The focus program puts priority on a topical problem in conducting economic surveys.

The Conference is not only a meeting point for experts, but also establishes a forum for researchers who start working in the field of socio-economic surveys.

The Conference papers are available for CIRET members as well as authors and participants of the respective Conference.
For past Conferences up to the 25th CIRET Conference in Paris in 2000, selected papers were published in the Conference proceedings volume (see CIRET Publications).

Starting with the 26th CIRET Conference in Taipei in 2002, authors are kindly invited to submit a ready-to-publish version of their paper to the joint OECD and CIRET Journal of Business Cycle Measurement and Analysis (JBCMA). Submissions accepted by the Editor-in-Chief are sent to two referees (double blind procedure).