With price inflation on the increase since the autumn of 2007, competition policy has re-emerged as a subject of interest in Austria for both economic-policy makers and the public at large. In this context, possibilities may arise for more stringent enforcement of competition law as well as the...

The 2002 amendment of the Cartel and Competition Act introduced a fundamental change in the institutional landscape of Austrian competition policy. Apart from reorganising the institutional level, it will, however, be necessary to overhaul the contents side as well. The fundamentals of a...

The Amendment to the Competition Act entering into force on 1 March 2013 provides the legal groundwork for competition monitoring as an additional responsibility to be performed by the Austrian Competition Authority. Legislators have been sparing in prescribing any specific design. Such leeway...

The third part of WIFO's series of articles on privatisation focuses on the practical implementation of privatisation projects and provides a summary of economic policy conclusions. In the long run privatisation projects can only be economically successful and socially and politically accepted...

Measures targeted at the revenue side of the budget can contribute between € 10 and € 28 billion to the consolidation of public finances. This total amount could be reached without harming the economy via an increase of excise taxes, an enhanced taxation of wealth and the abolition of tax...

Scandinavian countries are pursuing a successful two-pronged economic policy strategy with a focus on future-orientated investment and competition which could serve as a model for Austria. While the need to close the gap in Austrian economic policy in terms of future-orientated investment has...

The economic crisis has had a negative effect on the state of the public budgets. Consolidation measures and the slow recovery of the economy will continue to influence the budget until 2014. However, an increase in public spending on innovation and education is possible in principle, despite...

A lack of competition has resulted in a bottleneck in Austrian growth. A lasting intensification of competition would substantially enhance national innovation and growth. Independent measures to bolster competition and supplement EU-level requirements are sensible, feasible and necessary. Due...