Through simulations using the WIFO macro model it is possible to estimate the effect of changes in trade policy – i.e., of East European opening up and of EU eastward enlargement – on the Austrian economy: although competitive pressure has considerably increased in some economic sectors...

The Agenda 2000 of the European Commission and the state of play in negotiations imply that the current candidate countries are going to join the Union in two consecutive groups. This is why simulations for the 2002 to 2010 period, using WIFO's macroeconometric model, assume that the first group...

In 1997–2002, Austrian GDP will grow by 2¾ percent p.a. on average in real terms. Supported by the strong competitive position of Austria's external sector, exports will continue their dynamic growth and the net exports are expected to furnish a positive contribution to GDP. Domestic demand...

After a two year slump, Austria's economy is expected to recover in 1998. Over the whole forecast period 1995-2000 the economy will grow by 1.8 percent per year, a rate slightlyless than the rate forecast for the entire EU (2.1 percent). According to the forecast, net government borrowing is...

Measured on average for the period 1997-2001, real GDP will increase at a rate of 2.4 percent per year, 1 percentage point more than for the preceding five-year period. While exports are currently the driving force behind economic growth, additional stimulus should come from investment in the...

Cross-border purchases are a normal feature of market economies. The magnitude of these purchases depends on economic factors (such as price differentials), administrative factors (such as import quotas), and on a variety of other factors (such as geographic constellations). Within the EU the...

With the Austrian economy becoming more integrated into Eastern Central Europe, manufacturing steps are being shifted to Eastern Europe (outsourcing or "fragmentation"), following the intermediate step of lower costs payable for imported materials and services. Outsourcing impacts directly and...

In order to cushion the impact of the financial and economic crisis on the real economy, the Austrian government adopted fiscal stabilisation packages. Relative to GDP, these are among the largest in an international comparison, amounting to 4.2 percent of 2008 GDP in cumulative terms and...

An overly expansionary monetary policy stance (particularly in the USA) fuelled speculation on stock markets; when the bubble burst, economies fell into recession. These mechanisms are explained in a theoretical model with three inter-acting markets for money, equities and goods.

The assessment of 10 years of EMU is ambivalent. On the one hand, the introduction of the common currency has contributed towards price stability and the euro has acquired a global status next to the dollar. Monetary Union has also stimulated cross-border trade within the euro area. On the other...