The ESEE (Encuesta Sobre Estrategias Empresariales) is a statistical research which, since 1990, each year samples a representative panel of manufacturing firms. It has a rather flexible design, and it is suited to be utilized in two different potential ways. On the one hand, it makes possible to know and analyze in depth the evolution along time of the manufacturing industry through a large number of data regarding the activity and the decisions taken by manufacturing firms. The series of yearly publications published by the Ministry of Science and Technology, titled Las empresas industriales en (año) (The industrial firms in (year)) is a prime example of this kind of application. On the other hand, the ESEE's design is intended to provide panel microeconomic information adapted to the specification and contrast of the econometric models resulting from the economic theory.

The ESEE has its origin in an agreement subscribed in the year 1990 between the Ministry of Science and Technology (at the time, the Ministry of Industry and Energy), and the Fundación SEPI (formerly the Fundación Empresa Pública); the later was the responsible of its design and of controlling its execution through the Program of Economic Research. Since that year, an average sample of 1,800 firms has been surveyed yearly, on the basis of a 107-question questionnaire, with over 500 fields, which also includes information about their Income Statements and Accounting Balance Sheets. Since 2002 the technical management of the ESEE is carried out by Diego Rodriguez, associate professor of Economics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.