Evaluation "go international". Executive Summary

Since 2003, the internationalisation strategies of Austrian firms are supported with the promotion initiative "go international". The objectives of the study are to quantify the benefits of the programme in terms of individual measures, and to assess the economic impact of the programme in total. It also provides an international comparison of support schemes and investigates the role of "go international" in the range of internationalisation benefits. A key part of the study is the WIFO company survey. The study shows that the broad-based services to support internationalisation address the basic needs of the firms and cover the main barriers for internationalisation. The general focus of activities is in line with the specified objectives and at the macroeconomic level, the positive economic impact of "go international" is clearly shown. The overall assessment of "go international" is therefore regarded as economically useful, and recommends a continuation of the programme.