At a time of an externally induced economic downturn regional disparities in Austria's economic development declined markedly. Though the paths of the various economic sectors diverge the opposing trends offset each other to a great extent within the various regions.

Economic activity tends to exhibit a more uniform pattern in an international recession than during an upswing. In 1993, GDP growth rates by provinces were within the range of 1 percentage point (Austria total, excluding agriculture and forestry ±0.0 percent). The only exception was the...

The long duration of the current economic upswing has smoothed most regional economic imbalances. A tight labour market in the western part of Austria has helped laggards, such as Styria, to catch up; only Vienna is falling behind. The manufacturing sector, the engine of growth in the other...

Regional disparities can be seen as a result of diverging adaptability which is essentially due to externalities concerning the collecting and processing of information. The regional cycle hypothesis claims that diseconomies of information may originate from the very process of growth, causing a...

Economic activity is relatively little differentiated by provinces, but shows a clear pattern by major regions. The West (–1.0 percent) suffered more from the global recession than the East (–0.4 percent), with positive growth in the Burgenland. The South is in a serious crisis, especially...