Reports
Banking Holidays in Austria in the Year 2001
Calendar of Monetary and Economic Highlights
Economic Outlook for Austria from 2000 to 2002 (Fall 2000)
Money and Credit in the First Three Quarters of 2000
Balance of Payments in the First Half of 2000
Austrian Outward and Inward Direct Investment − Results of the 1998 Survey and Development of Selected Indicators
New Statistical Framework for the Portfolio Investment Position
Studies
Austrian Stock Market Survey and Outlook
While stocks have gained in importance for the Austrian economy as a financing instrument over the past few years, the significance of Austrian stocks as an investment vehicle − in particular for institutional investors − has not risen analogously. This explains in part the low valuation of the Austrian stock market and the thin volume of the stocks listed on the Vienna exchange. With stocks still playing a rather minor role in Austria, domestic enterprises have fewer options for external equity financing. On the other hand, Monetary Union has facilitated the use of cross-border financial flows. Foreign stock markets for growth companies, which have been launched in recent years, present Austrian enterprises with new equity financing options. As a consequence, the Vienna stock exchange is faced with stiffening competition, what with the ongoing integration of capital markets boosting liquidity and driving down prices. It remains to be seen whether it is advantageous for euro area trading to continue to be spread across several regional stock exchanges. The disadvantages of market fragmentation contrast with potential advantages arising from competition among various marketplaces.
The opinions expressed in the section “Studies” are those of the individual authors and may differ from the views of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank.