Upper Austria's Economy in an International Setting: Strengths, Deficits, Options for Action

Based on a comparative analysis of the economy of Upper Austria and a sample of 104 other industrial regions in Europe we identify the strengths and weaknesses of this Austrian region and suggest economic policy measures to support regional growth and employment. In an indicator based analysis we find international competitiveness of the regional economy in good order. However, in a deep analysis of the determinants of the performance at hand we were able to identify some room for improvement. Therefore we highlight promising fields of policy action, including measures in innovation policy, educational policy, structural policy, infrastructure policy, labour market policy and regional policy.