The investment development path of Austria

In a highly developed country like Austria, the net outward investment position is expected to be positively related to the level of development on the macro level. This is so because, in high-income countries, firm-specific advantages are more important determinants of the net outward investment position than general location-specific advantages. Furthermore, as firmspecific advantages vary substantially across industries and vis-a-vis other countries, it is proposed that the structural and the bilateral investment development paths differ from the macro investment development path. Using polynomial regression, we find a negative correlation between the level of development and the net outward investment position on the macro level, a positive one on the structural level, while bilateral investment development paths follow different trajectories. On the industrial level, variables reflecting combined ownership and location advantages and structural change provide better explanations of the investment development path than the general level of development.