Marktstruktur und Preisverhalten in der österreichischen Industrie

Summary

Being part of a larger investigation concerning forms and intensity of competition in the Austrian economy this paper deals with the characteristics of market structure and pricing behaviour in the industrial sector. Mainly based on a detailed questionnaire this study is representative for the group of larger Austrian industrial enterprises (sales of more than 100 Mill. AS) which produced more than two thirds of total industrial ouput. According to this study the dominant market structure of the Austrian industry is that of a close oligopoly. The subjective estimation of the price elasticity of demand by the firms participating in our survey was generally very pessimistic, being the lower the larger the market share of the respective firm.

The most common principle of price formation for new products in the Austrian industry is a system of flexible full cost pricing, meaning cost orientation plus variable profit margins. Our study also shows that a large majority (60% resp. 80%) of the enterprises under investgation use discount, i.e. price differentiation in their pricing policies. These aspects indicate that-in line with “marginalistic theories” — demand situations obviously exercise a substantial influence on pricing behaviour. Considering the causes for price changes, however, cost oriented influences were clearly dominating. This stresses the great importance of the Austrian pricecontrol mechanism, the “Paritätische Kommission”, the institutionalized form of incomes policy in Austria.

An econometric analysis of the process of price formation in the Austrian industry showed that the main factors of price changes were changes in labour costs and in international price levels, especially in the level of export prices. Our investigation also dealt with the question, whether differences in market-structure result in different, responses to demand fluctuations. Considering both the concepts of actual and “potential” competition it can be shown that enerprises in a more competitive situation react towards changes in demand conditions in a more “stabilizing way” that monopolistic firms: The reduce prices earlier in recession and they react to boom periods by expanding their capacities rather than by raising prices. Market structure and the intensity of competition thus seem to influence the position of the “Phillips-curve” in an economy.