Austria

Aid

What it measures

Aid quality is just as important as aid quantity, so the CDI measures gross aid as a share of GNI adjusted for various quality factors: it subtracts debt service, penalizes "tied" aid that makes recipients spend aid only only on donor goods and services, rewards aid to poor but relatively uncorrupt recipients, and penalizes overloading poor governments with many small projects.

• Score: 2.7
• Rank: 16

• Low net aid volume as a share of the economy (0.24%; rank: 16)
• Large share of tied or partially tied aid (24%; rank: 18)
• Selectivity: large share of aid to less poor and relatively less democratic governments (rank: 17)
• Allows project proliferation; small average project size (rank: 19)

Trade

International trade has been a force for economic development for centuries. The CDI measures trade barriers in rich countries against exports from developing countries.

• Score: 5.5
• Rank: 13

• High tariffs on agricultural products (38.7% of the value of imports; rank: 10)
• High agricultural subsidies (equivalent to 13.7% tariff; rank: 16)

Investment

What it measures

Rich-country investment in poorer countries can transfer technologies, upgrade management and create jobs. The CDI includes a checklist of policies that support healthy and productive investment in developing countries.

Austria Overall

• Score: 3.0
• Rank: 21

Austria Weaknesses

• Does not provide political risk insurance for all sectors through national agency
• Imposes some restrictions on pension fund investments in emerging markets
• Does not provide support for outflows of portfolio investment
• Does not screen projects for social impacts through national political risk agency

Migration

The movement of people from poor to rich countries provides unskilled immigrants with jobs, income, and knowledge. This increases the flow of money sent home by migrants abroad and the transfer of skills when the migrants return.

Austria Overall

• Score: 11.6
• Rank: 1

Austria Strengths

• Large increase during the 1990s in the number of unskilled immigrants from developing countries living in Austria (rank by share of population: 1)
• Large number of immigrants from developing countries entering Austria (rank by share of population: 3)
• Bears large share of the burden of refugees during humanitarian crises (rank: 3)

Austria Weaknesses

• Small share of foreign students from developing countries (52%; rank: 18)
• Tuition for foreign students higher than for nationals

Environment

Rich countries use a disproportionate amount of scarce resources, and poor countries are most vulnerable to global warming and ecological deterioration, so the CDI measures the impact of policies on the global climate, fisheries and biodiversity.

Austria Overall

• Score: 6.2
• Rank: 12

Austria Strengths

• No fishing subsidies (rank: 1)
• Low greenhouse gas emissions rate per capita (9.2 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent; rank: 9)

Austria Weaknesses

• Greenhouse gas emissions grew almost as fast as GDP in 1996–2006 (average annual growth rate/ GDP, –0.4; rank: 18)

Security

What it measures

Since security is a prerequisite for development, the CDI rewards contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping operations and forcible humanitarian interventions, rewards military protection of global sea lanes, and penalizes arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments.

Austria Overall

• Score: 4.2
• Rank: 14

Austria Strengths

• Few arms exports to poor and undemocratic governments (rank by share of GDP: 9)

Austria Weaknesses

• Small financial and personnel contributions to internationally sanctioned peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions over last decade (rank by share of GDP: 18)
• No protection of global sea lanes

Technology

Rich countries contribute to development through the creation and dissemination of new technologies. The CDI captures this by measuring government support for R&D and penalizing strong intellectual property rights regimes that limit the dissemination of new technologies to poor countries.

Austria Overall

• Score: 5.0
• Rank: 11

Austria Strengths

• Small share of government R&D on defense (0.0%; rank: 2)

Austria Weaknesses

• Offers patent-like proprietary rights to developers of data compilations, including those assembled from data in the public domain
• Imposes strict limitations on anti-circumvention technologies that can defeat encryption of copyrighted digital materials