Product Launches of Austrian Enterprises Over the Business Cycle

This article presents for the first time the data on product launches by companies in the Austrian manufacturing industry collected in the WIFO-Konjunkturtest. The analysis shows how companies adapt their products launches over the business cycle. The probability of introducing new products to the market is procyclical and the number of introduced products fluctuates countercyclically. Nevertheless, the results also show that companies are trying to keep their spending on new products constant over time. With the introduction of new products, the financing needs increase, new bank loans correlate positively with product launches. If bank lending becomes more restrictive during economic downturns, the resulting financing restrictions have a negative effect on the introduction of new products.