Der österreichische Exporteur

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1758074884

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-135614

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Der österreichische Exporteur

Edition:: [2. Aufl]

Place of publication:: Wien

Publisher:: [Kammer für Handel, Gewerbe und Industrie]

Year of publication:: 1927

Scope:: 240 S.

Digitisation:: 2021

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: The Austrian Exporter

Collection:: Economics Books

Techi Außen influence of Geographical Position The Austrian Merchant Dommunica- 4+ions Trade 3arriers in Central Europe Austrian Export a Among the circumstances which exereise an influence on the ability of a country for competition on foreign markets its geographical position plays an important, though by no means decisive, part. When the‘ geographical situation of a country is referred to as favourable, this statement is correct, in all but a few cases, with certain restrietions Only, because on the one hand the extent to which geography favours a given region is not constant but liable to modifieations in the course. of the economic progress of the world, and on the other hand the geographical situation, as a rule, can be said to be favourable only in respect of certain markets or of certain classes of exportable goods. This restricetion applies particularly to inland states which, unless they dispose of convenient navigable waterways or unless their railway connections with foreign sea-ports are over short distances only, depend in the main on neighbouring states for marketing their heavy mass production. Austria possesses one waterway of importance only, the Danube, and the railway to the nearest sea-shore leads to Trieste, whose traffic is chiefly with the Orient. The direction which Nature appears ;o have marked out for Austrian exports — apart from the exports to neighbouring countries — would therefore seem to be chiefly a west-easterly one. It is thus the Balkan countries and the Near East — in addition, of course, to the Succession States — which one would feel tempted to call the natural markets of Austria, especially in view of Austrian industry and commerce being more intimately acquainted with those markets through long experience and possessing a larger amount of knowledge of the psychology of, and the languages spoken by, the inhabitants of the territories in question than is possessed as a rule by the nationals of western states. The well- known economists Messrs. W. T. Layton and Charles Rist, who in 1925 conducted an enquiry into the economic situation of Austria on behalf of the League of Nations, saw the aptitude, which Austria. (and in particular Vienna) possesses for trade relations with eastern markets, in the light of an important asset of the country and the report which these eminent experts made to the League contains the following sentences on the subject: ‘The advantages of a great commercial city continue to attract merchants and traders from various parts of the world. Thanks to their intimate knowledge of the Danubian lands the Viennese merchants are the natural intermediaries between these countries and western Europe. Of perhaps even greater importance is the fact that Vienna remains the greatest banking centre of HKastern Europe. The Vienna money market sontinues to a very large extent to be the channel through which foreign credits are supplied ver a very wide industrial field and the Viennese banks still retain an interest in important ındertakings which are full of promise for the future.” The banking organisation of the country and the support it lends to the export trade will be referred to later in these pages. With a population of 6,535,000 (census of March 7th, 1923) and an area of 32,396 square miles, Austria has 19,423 miles of roads, 4274 miles of normal-gauge railways, and the navigation on the Austrian section of the Danube extends over 226 miles. Austria has been able in consequence io maintain its position as an important transit centre of European trade, It is well known that the influence exereised by the geographical position, though it has been supported in the case of Austria by the economic structure of what have been called the natural markets of the country and by certain historical facts, has not been allowed a free and unhampered scope. In so far as the neighbouring countries (in particular the Succession states) and the Balkan countries’ are concerned, the prevailing school of economic thought has created artificial obstacles to the mutual exchange of goods. A very vivid and instructive representation of the obstruetions to European trade, which have been raised by tariffs, has been constructed by Sir Clive Morison Bell and was on view in September 1926 at the Bank of England. The model was a map of Europe which showed, however, a wall round each country drawn in proportion to the ad walorem height of the various tariffs. The map showed Great Britain and the Netherlands having the lowest tariffs which, if an index were used, would correspond to the number 6, the index number for Denmark being 7 and for Belgium and Portugal 8. France, Germany and Scandinavia fall in a group of moderate protectionists with index numbers between 12 and 15. The Central European. countries starting with Austria at 16, .Rumania 18 and Bul-

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