Economic activity in Austria remains subdued. The export-driven manufacturing sector suffers from persistently weak demand in the euro area. Trade and tourism have lately registered a decline in sales. Leading indicators point to a tentative improvement in Austria. In the EU, too, economic...

While economic developments outside Europe have been quite diverse, signs are mounting in the EU that the recession is ending. In Austria, business surveys and WIFO's leading indicator also suggest an improvement in economic conditions in the near future; up to now stimulus to growth is weak,...

After a significant improvement in 2010 (+9.4 percent) and 2011 (+6.6 percent), productivity in Austrian manufacturing rose only marginally in 2012 (+0.1 percent). Labour costs, however, increased by 3.2 percent, approximately to the same ex-tent as in 2011 (+3.4 percent).

Recent institutional changes in the European Union have strengthened the original Stability and Growth Pact by negotiating the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union ("fiscal compact"). The cyclically-adjusted budget balance is the main quantitative...

Uncertainty on financial markets has subsided somewhat, while companies are regaining confidence in their short-term business outlook. After a sustained decline in demand and output since the end of 2011, the second recession within five years in the euro area seems to have ended. Also in...

Im IV. Quartal 2012 ging die heimische Wirtschaftsleistung leicht zurück. Die Wachstumsdämpfung ist vor allem auf die Schwäche der Weltwirtschaft und die damit verbundene Verringerung der internationalen Kapital- und Handelsströme zurückzuführen. Anfang 2013 zog die Weltkonjunktur wieder...

Global economic developments have been quite uneven in the first months of 2013. While the US economy expanded again more strongly, and China experienced some loss in momentum, stagnation continued unchanged in the EU. The OECD's Composite Leading Indicator signals a revival of the world economy...

Institutions of higher education are central to knowledge-based societies. The extent to which they accomplish their tasks such as providing the requisite quantity and quality of research and teaching is of ever growing importance for the economy and society at large. At the same time,...