Following a cyclical downturn in 2014, the Austrian economy is set to grow at a moderate pace of 1.3 percent p.a. over the period from 2015 to 2019. Private consumption and investment will experience a sluggish growth, while the external contribution to GDP growth will remain modest. The gradual...

Real gross domestic product will expand by 2.2 percent per year during 2011-2015. The unemployment rate (according to the Public Employment Service Austria, AMS) will amount to 6.8 percent on average during 2011-2015. Due to increasing foreign and domestic labour supply labour market conditions...

The relationship between government size and growth has received an enormous attention in the economics literature, and the recent financial crisis has forced this topic back on the agenda. A highly controversial debate in this respect is whether large governments are harmful for growth....

This paper addresses empirically determinants of individual support for the Welfare State. We examine the interrelation of informal institutions with the perceived quality of a country's institutional framework. As a proxy for informal institutions, we concentrate on three core beliefs (trust in...

Are people happier if they experience freedom from regulations, and how do individual attitudes towards liberalization influence personal life satisfaction? Based on the data from European and World Values Surveys and the Economic Freedom of the World project, we find evidence for positive...

The paper aims at assessing indicators and individual elements of e-government of selected countries in 2009-2010, and the interrelation of e-government with corruption in the public sector. The authors explore possible causal and dependency relations of the established interlink between...

We address empirically trust as a determinant of support for government intervention. The central notion provided in the present paper is that the influence of generalized social trust on intervention attitudes is conditional on the perceived reliability, honesty, and incorruptibility of state...

Are people happier if they experience freedom from regulation, and how do individual attitudes towards liberalisation influence personal life satisfaction? Based on data from European and World Values Surveys and the Economic Freedom of the World project we find evidence for positive effects of...

One of the focal points of the discussion on the reform of Austrian public finances and the system of fiscal equalisation is the question of how to reform the municipal tax system. The accordance of spending and financial responsibilities (principle of connectivity) at the local level increases...