When newly recorded according to the statistical method established by the EU, expenditures for social programs in Austria amounted to ATS 694 billion or 29.5 percent of GDP in 1995. The extent of social expenditure in Austria is similar to that in other European countries with comparable social...

After having worsened during the first half of the 1990s, the international unit labor cost position of Austrian manufacturing improved markedly in 1996 and 1997. As a result of continuously high productivity growth and modest increases in labor costs, Austrian unit labor costs fell by 1 percent...

Computed in accordance with the European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics (ESSPROS), social expenditure in Austria totaled ATS 714 billion or 29.5 percent of GDP in 1996, a decline of 0.2 percent against 1994 and 1995 achieved in spite of weak economic growth. Social spending...

Austria ranks 11th in the international hierarchy of labour costs. The worker's hour is most expensive in Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany. In 2006, an hour of work in the Austrian manufacturing sector cost 29.15 €. Due to low productivity growth and the appreciation of the...

In the international hierarchy of labour costs Austria ranked ninth in 2004. Hourly labour costs were most expensive in Denmark, Norway and Germany. In 2004 one hour of blue-collar labour in Austrian manufacturing cost 20.80 €, hence 2.25 percent less than the average paid in the EU. With...

Although the size of the public sector is large in Austria, its redistributive impact from high to low income classes is limited: on the revenue side, income and property taxation is low and only moderately progressive but indirect taxation is high. Thus, the degree of progression of public...

The discussion on pension reforms concentrates on parametric changes in the pension system. However, any long-term financial sustainability of old-age provision is not solely determined by the pension laws, but is also affected by the economic environment and in particular the labour market. The...

Adverse demographic trends necessitate reforms of the old-age pension systems in all industrialized countries. By the year 2030, the population of pension age will have increased by more than 70 percent, while the working-age population will have shrunk by 12 percent. EU calculations indicate...

While the labor cost position of Austria's manufacturing sector improved in the 1980s, it deteriorated considerably in the 1990s. Since 1990 productivity advances were no longer sufficient to compensate for above-average wage increases and a further appreciation of the schilling. Unit labor...

Austria is a country with a historically strong intervention of government. Specifically a large part of the manufacturing sector and electricity had been nationalised after World War II, combined with public ownership in telecommunication, transport and banking this created one of the largest...