Austria as a Technology Provider. Competitiveness in Key Technologies and Potentials

We analyse the competitiveness of industries and technological fields in Austrian manufacturing and assess the potentials to strengthen the Austrian industrial base through diversification and deepening of its export portfolio. The results show that the most competitive products exported by Austrian manufacturing draw on a few clusters of competence specific to the Austrian production system. These competences have developed over time through localised technical change, i.e., through process upgrading and related diversification which drive also structrual change in Austrian manufacturing. The key technological fields in which Austrian producers excel are in the area of advanced manufacturing technologies and advanced materials. An analysis of the public funding schemes managed by the Austrian Research Promotion agency shows that substantial funding is devoted to these key areas of strenghts. However, some inconsistencies can be observed.