!!!Industrie
Industry, part of the producing sector, in which investment and
consumer goods are manufactured from raw materials and semi-finished
goods. Industrial production is characterised by the extensive use of
technology and the production of large numbers of each type of goods.
Nevertheless, the boundary between industry and handicrafts is
imprecise and difficult to record statistically
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In Austria, industry plays a less important role than in other
countries. In the course of the industrialisation that took place in
the 19%%sup th/% century, industrial centres were developed in
Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia; in Austria, industrial production was
limited to a few regions: the Mur and Muerz valleys, the southern
Vienna Basin, and the Rhein Valley. Austria in the 19%%sup th/% and
early 20%%sup th/% centuries can therefore be described as having
been an industrialised agrarian state. It was only during the Second
World War and the decades of reconstruction in the aftermath of the
war that a "belated surge of industrialisation" occurred.
Before industrialisation reached its zenith, however, a
countermovement had already begun.
\\
After the Second World War, an appreciable portion of the armaments
industry managed to carry on by switching to the production of
non-military goods; most of these companies were put under state
control on July 26, 1946. However, the Soviet Union claimed about
30 % of the industrial capacity (232 firms) in its zone of
occupation as German property and had these firms produce goods under
the direction of the USIA for their own needs. Under the First
Nationalisation Law the equity interests of about 70 companies were
transferred to the state-owned banks (Creditanstalt, Laenderbank,
Oesterreichisches Credit-Institut); the remainder, in varying legal
forms of commercial entities, were administrated by the state. With
the aid of the Marshall Plan, these companies, as well as the private
companies, were built up again, modernised, and integrated into the
Western European economy. In 1946 Austria's industry had regained
44 % of its pre-war volume, in 1949 it exceeded the pre-war
volume by 23 %, and by 1954 the number of employees in all
sectors had increased by 68 %. The upswing varied in extent from
one branch to another; it was particularly high in the area of
investment goods, but less so in the consumer goods sector. On the
whole, however, the breakthrough to an industrial state succeeded.
Nevertheless, at the end of the 1950s industrial policy was neglected,
resulting in signs of recession in 1958. In 1956 the state-owned
companies were put under the administration of the Industrie- und
Bergbauverwaltung (IBV, industry and mining administration), but
continued to be strongly susceptible to political influence. In the
1960s the capacities of all branches of industry developed
considerably, but around 1967 another slump occurred and the number of
industrial employees dropped by 45,000, although production rose by
76 %. Austrian industry continued to be marked by structural
weaknesses. In 1966 the state holding company OeIG (since 1970 OeIAG,
Oesterreichische Industrieholding AG) was established, whose goal was
to create tighter organisation of the state-owned companies;
consolidations were carried out (from 1972 in the steel and chemical
branches), but these often failed to bring favourable results. It
became increasingly necessary to use foreign capital, and problems
with the EEC became noticeable. Traditional heavy industry in
particular was plagued by difficulties, but new products (insolvencies
of Eumig and Klimatechnik) did not always meet with success, either.
The establishment of new companies (General Motors Opel Austria in
Aspern in Vienna's 22%%sup nd/% district) depended on massive state
subsidies. In the mid-1970s the downswing of the textile industry
began, while environmental protection stipulations created additional
burdens. A large number of companies succeeded in switching over to
new products (e.g. motor vehicle parts). In 1983
Creditanstalt-Bankverein (CA) and Laenderbank ( Bank Austria AG) began
to sell affiliated companies. Closures met with strong resistance in
the affected regions. From 1993 onward, many of the state-owned
industrial companies ( nationalised industry) were dissolved and
numerous employees made redundant, extensive restructuring took place,
and partial privatisation was carried out. Many formerly important
industrial towns (Wiener Neustadt, Ternitz, St. Poelten, Steyr,
and towns in the Muerz and Mur valleys) lost a considerable portion of
their industrial capacity. The end of the 1990s saw the first positive
results of these far-reaching structural measures. Employment figures
began to stabilize, in spite of the pressures of globalization an
upswing in performance is evident in numerous Austrian industrial
enterprises.
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In 1997, Austria had 3,849 industrial enterprises employing a total of
448,282 persons, the value of products sold amounted to 1523
billion schillings. This trend is evident in the typically
small-scale structure of Austrian businesses: in 1995 18.2 % of
the registered workforce was employed in companies with up to 19
employees; 23.8% were employed by companies with a staff between 20
to 99 and 58% by companies with 100 or more employees. Industry in
Austria is in a process of extensive structural transformation.
Traditional heavy industry diminished considerably until the
mid-nineties. Production can be carried out with fewer workers or is
outsourced to other countries, or higher costs make competition with
products from other countries unfeasible. Sectors especially affected
by this trend are the mining, leather, textile and clothing
industries.
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Distribution of production according to provinces is as follows: Lower
Austria (23.5%), Upper Austria (21.8%), Vienna (16.9%), Styria (15.6%)
followed by Tyrol (5.5%) and Burgenland (1.5%).
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The most important export country for Austrian industrial companies is
Germany with 35.1% (1997), followed by Italy with 8.3%, Hungary and
Switzerland (both 4.9%).
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Non-wage labour costs of Austrian industrial companies are very high
compared to international standards, in 1997 Austria ranked second on
the international scale behind Italy with non-wage labour costs
amounting to 99% of labour costs; the average hourly cost of labour
amounted to ATS 270.10 in 1996, clearly above the EU average (ATS
233.10).
!Literature
Austrian Industries, Bundessektion Industrie,
Industriellenvereinigung (ed.), Industrie-Standort Oesterreich, 1993;
E. Bendl, Motive der Standortwahl und Attraktivitaet des
Industrie-Standortes Oesterreichs, 1993; Beirat fuer Wirtschafts- und
Sozialfragen (ed.), Wirtschaftsstandort Oesterreich, 1994.
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