Two major international frameworks provide landmarks for future development paths: the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
and the Paris Climate Agreement. Monitoring the progress towards achieving the individual goals has to consider a multitude
of synergies and trade-offs. In this paper we use composite indices to analyse climate and energy policy in Austria and other
selected EU countries. The analysis delivers several results which are also supported by the assessment of climate and energy
policies in the case study countries. In general, the improvements regarding energy efficiency, emissions and deployment of
renewables have been moderate in the period under observation. This hints at the time needed for restructuring to take place.
This underlines the importance of credible political commitment to climate targets, the implementation of ambitious instruments
and the need for stability in the guiding frameworks in order to effectuate substantial changes. In addition, the description
of the circumstances and policy frameworks in the selected countries shows, that each one is characterised by a very specific
energy system (complemented by specific social structures) which determines the challenges that have to be overcome on the
way to decarbonisation.
Die OECD initiierte 2015 das Projekt "Multiprod", das erstmals die Produktivitätsentwicklung von Unternehmen auf Basis von
Unternehmensmikrodaten international vergleichend analysieren sollte. Das WIFO untersuchte aufgrund von Mikrodaten von Statistik
Austria die Produktivitätsentwicklung in Österreich und verglich sie mit den am Multiprod-Projekt teilnehmenden Ländern (darunter
die Innovation Leader Finnland, Schweden, Dänemark). Leider beeinflussen Strukturunterschiede zwischen den Unternehmensdaten
von Statistik Austria (Leistungs- und Strukturerhebung) und anderen Ländern, wie z. B. das Fehlen von Kapitalstockdaten die
Ergebnisse erheblich. Ein aussagekräftiger internationaler Vergleich der Daten war deshalb nicht möglich.
In 2017, the economic upturn in the Austrian manufacturing sector led to an improvement in the unit labour cost position compared
with the weighted average of all trading partners. Productivity increased more strongly than in previous years, while labour
costs in Austria rose only moderately. The Austrian unit labour cost position also improved in comparison with Germany and
the other EU trading partners.
The backlog of exhaust emission tests led to a considerable build-up of inventories and production losses in the German automotive
industry. Growth in industrial production also slowed down in Austria. However, this setback is not clearly linked to the
automotive supply industry. The situation on the labour market continued to improve in November. The rise in energy prices
should have peaked in October.
We show that firms' credit market experience determines their perception of aggregate bank lending policy using panel data
from the Austrian Business Survey between 2011 and 2016. Loan rejections have a strongly negative and persistent effect on
perceptions. Interestingly, firms that receive a loan at worse than anticipated conditions show a similarly negative effect.
Firms that do not need a loan tend to perceive lending policy as neutral and revise their perceptions less often. Our findings
are in line with theories on sticky information, rational inattention and pessimism bias and suggest considering experience
for the aggregation of perceptions.
Agriculture contributes approximately 10 percent to the emission of greenhouse gases in Austria. Therefore, it is important
to evaluate the long-term development of the sector in order to assess whether Austria is achieving its emission targets.
In three scenarios, adaptation paths of Austrian agriculture to changed price developments and political framework conditions
up to 2050 are examined. The reduction of arable land observed so far was continued in the scenarios. The results show sustained
production incentives for milk production. Contrary to recent observations, the results indicate a reduction in poultry meat
production. In arable farming, maize production will increase, mainly due to the assumed productivity gains.
WIFO-Konjunkturprognosen, Dezember 2018, 32 Seiten
Studie von: Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung
Online seit: 20.12.2018 10:30
Das Wirtschaftswachstum ist in Österreich noch sehr kräftig und wird sich 2019 etwas abkühlen. Getragen wird die aktuelle
Hochkonjunktur von der Industrieproduktion, aber auch die Bau- und Dienstleistungen liefern wesentliche Wachstumsimpulse.
Eine Abschwächung ist im Bereich der Investitionen zu verzeichnen. Solide Lohnerhöhungen und eine Verringerung der Abgabenbelastung
werden die Einkommen der privaten Haushalte und ihre Konsumnachfrage stärken. Die Beschäftigungsexpansion verlangsamt sich
aber und damit auch der Rückgang der Arbeitslosigkeit. Der Staatshaushalt wird in den kommenden Jahren einen Überschuss erzielen.
