Hungary suffers from a severe lack of credibility (by Sándor Richter; pp. 1-2) Keywords: sovereign default, IMF Countries covered: Hungary Topics: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy Russia's WTO accession: impacts on Austria (by Vasily Astrov; pp. 3-11) Keywords: WTO, trade, FDI Countries covered: Russia, Austria Topics: International Trade, Competitiveness and FDI The impact of customs procedures on business performance: evidence from Kosovo (by Mario Holzner and Florin Peci; pp. 12-16) Keywords: customs procedures, trade facilitation, business performance Countrie...more

Labour costs, tax burden and competitiveness in Austria compared with selected CEEs Summary The study analyses in an international comparison the key characteristics and recent developments of labour costs, taxation and productivity in Austria and selected CEEs (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia). The CEEs still enjoy sizeable cost advantages, yet the fast growth of their unit labour costs implies gradually deteriorating competitiveness. A comparison of the real purchasing power of net wages reveals a lower income disparity betwee...more

This paper looks at the influence globalization exerts on wage negotiation processes and outcomes. Specifically, it establishes whether, compared to their purely domestically oriented counterparts, exporters share a higher fraction of the rents they generate with their employees. The analysis uses a panel of Austrian manufacturing firms between 2002 and 2006 and demonstrates that, in general, Austrian exporters do not share a higher part of their rents with their employees. Moreover, the analysis also takes into account that exporters are a very heterogeneous group, broadly differing in terms ...more

Das im Rahmen des Kompetenzzentrum "Forschungsschwerpunkt Internationale Wirtschaft" (FIW) erstellte Jahrbuch "Österreichs Außenwirtschaft 2010" steht hier zum freien Download zur Verfügung. Die aktuellen makroökonomischen und institutionellen Herausforderungen für den Euro-Raum angesichts der Krise und die Wechselkursentwicklung des Euro sind heuer zentrale Themen im Jahrbuch "Österreichs Außenwirtschaft 2010". Darüber hinaus finden sich darin Beiträge zu einer ganzen Reihe weiterer interessanter Themen wie die Erholung der Weltwirtschaft und des Handels von der globalen Wirtschaftskrise, ...more

Using input-output analysis, this research project investigates the role of services in the Central European new EU member states (NMS) – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia – and compares it to that in Austria. The role of services includes not only their position in the production structure per se but also their increasing importance as an intermediate input for manufacturing and other services. As services were underdeveloped under the former system in the new EU member states, it is interesting to look at their features and changes over time. The analysis ...more

For the English synopsis click HERE. Das im Rahmen des Kompetenzzentrum "Forschungsschwerpunkt Internationale Wirtschaft" (FIW) erstellte Jahrbuch "Österreichs Außenwirtschaft 2009" steht hier zum freien Download zur Verfügung. Das österreichische Außenwirtschaftsjahrbuch ist eine kompakte und informative Zusammenstellung der wesentlichen globalen und öterreichspezifischen außenhandelsrelevanten Entwicklungen. Es wird heuer zum dritten Mal vom Kompetenzzentrum "Forschungsschwerpunkt Internationale Wirtschaft" (FIW), einem Kooperationsprojekt von WIFO, wiiw und WSR, herausgegeben. Auftragg...more