Konjunkturbedingter Rückgang der Selbstfinanzierungskraft 2001. Cash-Flow und Eigenkapital der österreichischen Sachgütererzeugung (Decline in Self-financing Capacity in 2001 Due to the Economic Downturn)
Aufgrund der Konjunkturverschlechterung verzeichnete die österreichische Sachgütererzeugung im Jahr 2001 einen Rückgang der
Cash-Flow-Quote; nach jüngsten Schätzungen betrug der Cash-Flow 9,6% der Umsätze. Die Selbstfinanzierungskraft war damit höher
als in Deutschland, aber niedriger als im Durchschnitt von zehn europäischen Vergleichsländern.
Keywords:Cash-Flow; Selbstfinanzierungskraft; Eigenkapital; Sachgütererzeugung; Österreich; Internationaler Vergleich; Konjunkturbedingter
Rückgang der Selbstfinanzierungskraft 2001. Cash-Flow und Eigenkapital der österreichischen Sachgütererzeugung; Decline in
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Forschungsbereich:Industrie-, Innovations- und internationale Ökonomie
Sprache:Deutsch
Decline in Self-financing Capacity in 2001 Due to the Economic Downturn
In 2001, Austrian manufacturing experienced a marked slowdown in demand. Due to the weak growth performance on a world-wide
scale, exports to the main trading partners lost their dynamism. WIFO estimates that production expanded by only 1.8 percent
in 2001. In the WIFO industry surveys, firms reported rather pessimistic expectations, and during 2001 these expectations
got worse from quarter to quarter. On the cost side, there was a decrease in material prices, but a small increase in labour
unit costs. Interest rates, however, remained relatively low. In the face of this unfavourable environment, the cash-flow/sales
ratio, a measure of the ability of firms to finance new investments or to pay out dividends, has probably decreased. Based
on a dynamic econometric panel model, the prediction of the cash-flow/sales ratio amounts to 9.6 percent for 2001, following
9.8 percent in 2000. A survey of 150 manufacturing firms conducted by the Federation of Austrian Industrialists likewise points
to a reduction in the cash-flow/sales ratio in the year 2001. Although international comparative data are available only until
1999, Austrian manufacturing has continuously strengthened its position with regard to both its cash-flow ratio and its equity
ratio throughout the past decade. For both ratios it is still below the average of ten comparable EU countries, but generally
ahead of Germany and Italy. European front runners in terms of the cash-flow/sales ratio in 1999 are the Netherlands and Finland,
followed by Denmark. The ranking is similar in terms of the equity ratio, except that Spain and Portugal appear to be ahead
of Denmark.