Exports, Services and Value Added. A National, International and Regional Analysis for Austria

Globalisation implies a more intensely intermeshed network of trade; accordingly, the import of purchased materials and services by producers of goods and services should thus grow and the domestic value-added decline, as is foreseen by the Basar hypothesis. Numerous indicators point at "Basar elements" in Austria: imports are growing (at the expense of local value added), production depth and investment rate are declining. So far, such changes in the export structure appear not to have negatively impacted on the development of the Austrian economy in general: the fall in value added intensity has (so far) been compensated by the strong growth of exports. Nevertheless, the share of company profits is growing at the expense of wages and salaries. The export-induced share of employment has increased at the expense of employment induced by private and public consumption. Service exports have grown in importance. Through supplying their services, service providers are profiting from goods exports more than they did in the past. In contrast, manufacturing as a proportion of the overall export-induced value added has declined. If service exports continue to gain in weight this could compensate for the erosion of value added from exports. Seen from a regional aspect, the value added by exports benefits chiefly the exporting region: some 57 percent of exported goods remain in the region, and the figure goes up to 63 percent with regard to services.