Upper Austria's Industry in the COVID-19 Crises. An Interim Assessment

This study provides an empirical analysis of the situation, development and prospects of Upper Austrian manufacturing in the COVID-19 crisis to date. It is based on recent data on production and sales as well as on relevant developments in foreign trade and on assessments of the consequences of the crisis by Upper Austrian industrial enterprises. For the first phase of the crisis, the results show a drastic collapse in production and sales as well as a deterioration in business assessments. The clear rebound during summer could not compensate for the losses from spring. Due to the close integration of regional companies in global trade and international supply chains and, above all, their comparatively strong focus on production and foreign trade segments that are vulnerable in the crisis, Upper Austrian industry was affected to an above-average extent by the COVID-19 crisis: the economic collapse and subsequent recovery were primarily determined by Upper Austria's strongly technology-oriented and internationally oriented capital goods sectors (mechanical engineering, automotive sector). According to the companies, public aid was useful in overcoming the crisis so far. Considerations on the basic features of a possible package of measures to support the regional companies in their emergence from the crisis, therefore conclude the work.