Regional Differences in the Economic Vulnerability to the Current COVID-19 Crisis in Austria. A Structural Approach at the Level of the Länder

Against the background of the massive economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to contain it, this paper provides an assessment of the relative vulnerability of the Austrian Länder economies in the current crisis phase. The analysis is based on a scale recently developed by WIFO assessing the economic impact of this supply and demand-side shock on individual economic sectors, and a transfer of this scale to the sectoral structure of the individual Länder. Overall, our results show that economic effects in the current phase of the COVID-19 crisis occur on a broad sectoral front. According to the underlying detailed industry assessments, more than two thirds of employed persons in Austria are working in industries which are at least significantly economically affected by the crisis. The analysis at the level of Länder illustrates for the first time the regional differences in the economic impact in Austria. Despite considerable differences in regional economic structures, most of the Länder are in general similarly affected. The advantages and disadvantages of specialisation in differently affected economic sectors therefore cancel each other out to a considerable extent. According to our results, however, Salzburg and Tyrol are somewhat more affected.