3.4.1 Absenteeism
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The data available in the official report ‘Fehlzeitenreport 2020’ (Absense report 2020) made by the ‘Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung’ (Austrian Institute for Economic Research) provides detailed information about sick leave rates by federal state, social status and gender(Leoni, 2021). The result for this indicator considers persons with the status
‘ArbeiterInnen’ or ‘Angestellte’ (workers or employees) and the days-off due medical license. With the above, the region Innsbruck (Tirol) has an absenteeism level of 3.6 ‘Days-off due medical license’ compared to 3.7 as national average. This is illustrated in the Figure 28 .
Figure 28 Days-off due medical licence, comparison Innsbruck(Tirol) - Avg. Austria. Author's Illustration
The lower level of absenteeism in Innsbruck, that has one of the largest Health care centers in the country, allows to provide better health care of their population. Therefore, the working population in Innsbruck have a higher productivity of 0,1 days (in average) compared to the rest of the country, because they will be less time unavailable to work due the available health care services in the region. This comparison provides some empirical evidence that the hospital as a ‘place builder’ organization brings benefits not only to the
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patients but also, in this case, to the industries and working labour force by making it more productive than other places.
3.4.2 Unemployment
The unemployment rates as it was stated in the previous comparison, provide a good estimation about the level of economic activity within a certain region. The detailed information is already available in the official data sources provided by ‘Bundesanstalt Statistik Österreich’ (Federal Statistical Office Austria) therefore, no calculation was required (Statistik Austria, 2020).
The results for this indicator may suggest that economies are better off or possess better dynamic if the occupation level is high or the unemployment rates is low. With the above, Innsbruck (Tirol) has a level of unemployment of 2.1 % compared to 4.5% as national average. This is illustrated in theFigure 29Figure 17.
Figure 29 Unemployment rate, comparison Innsbruck (Tirol)- Avg. Austria. Author's Illustration
The lower level of unemployment in Innsbruck (Tirol) as well as the already review for Antofagasta, can be explained by several factors but it is also influenced by the presence of
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the hospitals. Therefore, the working population in Innsbruck have higher levels of occupation compared to the national average indicator, the total difference is 2.4%. This comparison provides some empirical evidence that the hospital as a ‘place builder’
organization brings benefits not only to the population but also boosting the economy and productivity performance of the region, making the place more attractive than other places.
3.4.3 Number of doctors and nurses
For the national indicators, the data could have been collected directly from the from the official data bases of the Österreichische Aerztekammer (Austrian Medical Association) (Österreichische Aerztekammer, 2020) and the declarations of the Pflegelandesrat (Care Provincial Council ) Bernhard Tilg, in the context of the number of nurses available in the Innsbruck region (Tirol) (Tirol Orf, 2019).
The results for this indicator may suggest a region is more likely better to offer health services due the higher availability of healthcare professionals. With the above, Innsbruck region has a rate of 5.9 doctors per 1.000 population compared to 5.3 as national average.
This is illustrated in the Figure 30.
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Figure 30 Doctors per 1.000 population, comparison Innsbruck (Tirol) - Avg. Austria. Author's Illustration
On the other hand, the region has a rate of 15.8 nurses per 1.000 population compared to 6.9 as national average. This is illustrated in the Figure 31.
Figure 31 Nurses per 1.000 population, comparison Innsbruck (Tirol) - Avg. Austria. Author's Illustration
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The results on these indicators suggest strong conclusions about the impact of having a large health care structures in the region. Both ratios of nurses and doctors per 1.000 persons shows large positives differences, of 0,6 and 8,9 respectively, compared the national average. With the above, it is possible to conclude that in the region possess the proper amount of specialist and general practitioners to provide adequate diagnosis in time and quality to the population. In addition to this, the region also has well-nourished staff able to provide proper health care and therapy once the diagnose is already made. This evidence helps to explains the lower ratio on sick days because of the efficient use of resources. However the large difference in the ratio of nurses per 1.000 population that is appreciated in Tirol is also influenced by the high volume of care/retirement centers (Pflegezentrum für Senioren) and research centers for elderly people in the surroundings of the region(Riedel and Kraus, 2010; Seniorenheim, 2021).
Consequently, the evaluation of these indicators suggests strong benefits for the population in Innsbruck highlighting that they are better compared with the average national structure that hospitals hold. Hence, the average income per region is also influenced by health professional and health employees’ incomes. Values for national indicators as well as the regional ones were obtained directly from the official data sources ‘Bundesanstalt Statistik Österreich’ (Federal Statistical Office Austria) therefore, no calculation was required (Statistik Austria, 2020). The result for this comparison shows that Innsbruck workers have an average salary of 2.340 €/Month compared to 2.455 €/Month as national average. This is illustrated in the Figure 23Figure 21Figure 19Figure 17.
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Figure 32 Average salary per person, comparison Innsbruck (Tirol)- Avg. Austria. Author's Illustration
The results for this indicator suggest that workers in the city of Innsbruck have a worse purchasing power compared to the national average, this difference reaches 115 €/Month representing less than 5% of the national average income. As it was stated before, health care workers also contribute to increase the average wages in the regions, but in this some bias can be noted that in this case is represented by the lower income for women in the Innsbruck region. Women in the Tirolean area earns in average 1.739 €/Month a 42% less than men in the same region who earns 3.013 €/Month (Statistik Austria, 2021) while women represents 50.7% of the total population of the region and men represents the missing 49.3%, according to ‘Abteilung Raumordnung und Statistik’ (Landesstatistik Tirol, 2020).