Austria's Attractivity for Inward FDI and as a Location for Headquarters Functions

A questionnaire was used to obtain figures for the attractivity of Austria as a location for headquarters functions of international corporations. The paper analyses differences and commonalities of the grounds on which location decisions are made, assesses the actual attractivity of Austria as a business location and looks into employment growth. Key criteria named for the choice of location were "availability of skilled staff" and the "educational and training level". Headquarters domiciled in Austria operate mainly globally, as well as in the ten new EU member countries and other CEECs. The survey findings point at the conclusion that the introduction of group taxation in 2005 added to the attractivity of the location for siting headquarters. In order to ensure that Austria will continue to be a competitive location for headquarters new competitive advantages should be developed (such as promoting the location of R&D functions) before existing advantages from the country's proximity to Eastern Europe will lose their edge.