Hatte sich die internationale Lohnstückkostenposition der Industrie Österreichs in den achtziger Jahren verbessert, so verschlechterte
sie sich seit Anfang der neunziger Jahre merklich. Trotz deutlich höherer Produktivitätszuwächse konnten der relative Anstieg
der Arbeitskosten und die Höherbewertung des Schillings nicht wettgemacht werden, sodaß die Lohnstückkosten gegenüber dem
Durchschnitt der Handelspartner pro Jahr um gut ½% stiegen. 1994 und 1995 verstärkte sich diese Entwicklung mit Positionsverlusten
von 1,8% gegenüber allen Handelspartnern und von 1,5% gegenüber der EU.
Keywords:Internationale Lohnstückkostenposition 1995 deutlich verschlechtert; Marked Deterioration in Austria's International Labor
Cost Position
Forschungsbereich:Arbeitsmarktökonomie, Einkommen und soziale Sicherheit
Sprache:Deutsch
Marked Deterioration in Austria's International Labor Cost Position
Price competitiveness of Austria's manufacturing sector declined markedly in the 1990s, thus offsetting to a large extent
the improvement during the second half of the 1980s. During the 1980s Austria's manufacturing industry managed to offset the
increase in wages and non-wage compensation vis-à-vis the major trading partners by higher productivity growth. Since 1990
however, productivity advances were no longer sufficient to compensate for above-average wage increases and a further appreciation
of the schilling. Between 1990 and 1995 the increase in labor costs in Austrian manufacturing (wages and non-wage compensation)
was 5¼ percentage points higher than in the trade-weighted average of competitors, with labor costs expressed on a national
currency basis for all economies. But since the Austrian schilling gained 7 percent in value during the same period, Austrian
hourly labor costs on a common currency basis rose relative to competitors by 12¼ percent. Through accelerated labor shedding,
Austria's manufacturing industry was able to achieve productivity gains of 9¼ percent; nonetheless, unit labor costs relative
to competitors rose by about 3 percent. During the last two years, in particular, the rise in relative labor costs, measured
in a common currency, was not offset by productivity gains: despite high productivity growth, resulting mostly from severe
cuts in employment, unit labor costs vis-à-vis competitors rose by 1¼ percent in 1994 and again by 1¾ percent in 1995. Exchange
rate changes taking place after September 1992 caused enormous shifts in the hierarchy of labor costs. Today Austria has the
fourth highest labor costs after Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium, but took tenth place as late as 1991. In 1995, hourly
labor costs in manufacturing were ATS 216 in Austria. German labor costs exceeded the level in Austria by 23 percent, but
hourly labor costs were considerably lower in most other countries, by 16 percent in the EU, by 32 percent in the USA, and
by 43 percent in the United Kingdom.