Business Investments in the Austrian Provinces. Development – Structure – Function of Regional Promotion

In view of the weak recovery of investment following the collapse of the financial and economic crisis, the development of investment in Austria and its causes are increasingly the focus of empirical studies. However, the regional dimension has not yet been taken into account. The present study therefore aims to reveal differences in the development of investment between the Länder, to locate regional specifics in their structure and thus to prepare evidence-based foundations for regional economic policy. As the results show, the capital accumulation of companies decreased in relation to economic performance in all Länder – not only since the crisis, but also in the medium term. However, striking differences can be seen in the details between the development paths by Länder, also in the sectoral dimension and their characteristics by type of investment. This speaks in favour of a regionally differentiated policy that refers to the respective regional context in its support of investment activities. The study therefore concludes with conceptual considerations on the role of the regional level in investment promotion and on a meaningful division of labour between the levels of the regional authorities.