NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Ninety-percent of companies worldwide think an avian flu pandemic would affect their business because of absenteeism, 70 percent think their profits would be hurt - but just 47 percent have begun to put together a business continuity plan.

And only 17 percent have a pandemic preparedness budget.

Those are a few of the findings from a survey released Thursday by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Mercer conducted its research in the first two weeks of March, surveying 450 companies in 38 countries.

Businesses in the United States are the least well prepared. While 80 percent of U.S. companies think a pandemic would hurt their profits, only 7 percent have created a pandemic preparedness budget.

Companies in Singapore and Asia, which had to deal with the SARS crisis in 2003, are the best prepared. One-quarter of companies in Asia have a preparedness budget in place.

But many believe money can alleviate the problem if a crisis hits. Thirty-nine percent of U.S. companies said they would increase pay to employees who are required to take on additional responsibility, while 11 percent would boost pay for employees working from home.

"Once a pandemic occurs, such expenditure may be seen by some employees as a bribe to risk contracting life-threatening illness. Therefore, this approach is unlikely to be the most effective way to address a crisis," said Dr. Jim Reynolds, a principal at Mercer, in a written statement.

Among industries, 26 of which are covered by the survey, Mercer found telecommunications and pharmaceutical companies were most likely to have a pandemic preparedness budget in place, while those in the retail sector were least likely to have one.

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