Die Lohnnebenkosten sind in Österreich relativ hoch. Eine Möglichkeit zur Senkung ergibt sich in den nächsten Jahren dadurch,
dass zu erwartende Überschüsse zweckgebundener Fonds nicht für Ausgabensteigerungen oder zur Budgetkonsolidierung, sondern
für Beitragssenkungen verwendet werden. Dies betrifft vor allem die Fonds im Bereich des Familienlastenausgleichs, der Insolvenz-Entgeltsicherung,
der Unfallversicherung, der Wohnbauförderung und der Arbeitslosenversicherung. Der Spielraum zur Senkung der Lohnnebenkosten
beträgt etwa 16 Mrd. S.
Keywords:Möglichkeiten und Auswirkungen einer Senkung der Lohnnebenkosten; Possibilities and Effects of Reducing Non-Wage Labour Costs
Forschungsbereich:Makroökonomie und öffentliche Finanzen
Sprache:Deutsch
Non-wage labour costs are relatively high in Austria. This is due, above all, to the level of employer contributions to social
security, payroll-dependent charges, and the extent of non-productive times. If – in the interest of logical coherence – bonus
payments (13th and 14th monthly salaries) are added to base pay, the rate of non-wage labour costs amounts to 61.4 percent
of the hourly wage. Relative to the yearly income (corrected for non-productive times), non-wage labour costs (social charges)
account for approximately one third of total labour costs. If the anticipated surpluses of the existing funds in the field
of social security are used to reduce contributions rather than increase spending, there ought to be some scope for a lowering
of non-wage labour costs in the years to come. This applies, in particular, to contributions to the family relief fund, the
fund to secure wage and salary payments in the event of insolvency, accident insurance, subsidised housing construction, and
– in view of the expected economic upswing – unemployment insurance. Reducing non-productive times is yet another way to lower
non-wage labour costs. If all possibilities to reduce contributions are fully utilised in the coming years, non-wage labour
costs can be cut by up to ATS 16 billion. In addition, the related reduction of employees' contributions by up to ATS 6 billion
would not only result in higher net wages and stronger consumer demand, but also have a moderating effect on the increase
of gross wages. However, a reduction of contributions requires a departure from the past practice of using potential surpluses
to increase spending and/or transfer payments or redistributing them to the old-age pension system – which in turn limits
the scope for budget consolidation. Moreover, the margin available for reductions of contributions cannot be fully utilised,
unless appropriate reforms are implemented at the same time to take account of the changing priorities of economic and social
policy. Reducing contributions has the added benefit of imposing a more stringent spending discipline, whereas surpluses from
earmarked revenues tend to generate further expenditure increases. The effects of a reduction of non-wage labour costs on
the economy and the labour market have been calculated on the basis of the WIFO macro-model: • The impact largely depends
on whether and to what extent enterprises are willing to pass on the reduction of non-wage labour costs in the form of lower
prices, which in turn would have a moderating effect on collective bargaining agreements. If the entire ATS 16 billion margin
is used to lower non-wage labour costs and enterprises partly adjust their prices accordingly (as assumed in the model), this
will translate into a growth of real GDP by 0.3 percent and an increase in the number of persons in employment by 6,400 (over
baseline) after no more than two years. These effects continue to increase in subsequent years. • If the reduction of non-wage
labour costs were passed on fully to prices, the effect would be about twice as strong: after two years, real GDP would be
about 0.7 percent higher, and the number of jobs would increase by 12,300. The faster the cost reduction is passed on to buyers
in Austria and abroad, the more favourable the effects on economic growth and employment.