New Establishments and Closures of Industrial Firms

In 1989, 182 industrial firms were newly established in Austria while 159 were closed, yielding a net increase of 1,800 jobs. The whole of this increase accrued in the Eastern half of the country and was heavily concentrated on labour intensive branches with high qualification requirements. A higher rate of firm closures in the Eastern region confirmed the medium-term trend of a shift in industrial capacities towards the West; above-average rates of new establishments in peripheral areas contributed towards decentralization. The latter trend, however, seems to be levelling off.