Market Integration and Market Efficiency under Seasonal Tariff Rate Quotas

Switzerland applies seasonal tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for the import of many fruits and vegetables during the domestic harvest season. We examine how this system affects the relationship between Italian and Swiss tomato prices and test for physical market integration and spatial equilibrium conditions over time. We use detailed, transaction‐based data on trade flows and trade costs and estimate an extended parity bounds model, following Barrett and Li (2002). We confirm that in the summer season, when TRQs are in place, markets are inefficient. While quota holders receive positive rents, the marginal rents for importers without quota shares are negative. This inhibits trade flows above the in‐quota import quantity allowed by TRQs. Hence, despite leading to inefficiencies and creating rents for importers, seasonal TRQs are effective in protecting domestic production against competing imports.     

Cost effectiveness and cost utility of risedronate for osteoporosis treatment and fracture prevention in women: a Swiss perspective

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) of risedronate compared to no intervention in postmenopausal osteoporotic women in a Swiss perspective.

Methods: A previously validated Markov model was populated with epidemiological and cost data specific to Switzerland and published utility values, and run on a population of 1,000 women of 70 years with established osteoporosis and previous vertebral fracture, treated over 5 years with risedronate 35 mg weekly or no intervention (base case), and five cohorts (according to age at therapy start) with eight risk factor distributions and three lengths of residual effects.

Results: In the base case population, the ICER of averting a hip fracture and the ICUR per quality-adjusted life year gained were both dominant. In the presence of a previous vertebral fracture, the ICUR was below €45,000 (£30,000) in all the scenarios. For all osteoporotic women ≥ 70 years of age with at least one risk factor, the ICUR was below €45,000 or the intervention may even be cost saving. Age at the start of therapy and the fracture risk profile had a significant impact on results.

Conclusion: Assuming a 2-year residual effect, that ICUR of risedronate in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis is below accepted thresholds from the age of 65 and even cost saving above the age of 70 with at least one risk factor.     

Nestlé coping with Japanese nationalism: Political risk and the strategy of a foreign multinational enterprise in Japan, 1913–45

This paper focuses on the strategy adopted by the MNE Nestlé in Japan between the establishment of a branch at Yokohama in 1913 and the end of World War II. It highlights the difficulties encountered by the firm in its attempts to open up and operate production facilities due to strong opposition from local condensed milk makers, supported by the state. Eventually, in 1934, Nestlé opened a factory by founding an incorporated company, ARKK, all of whose shareholders were Japanese working for Nestlé. Although the war drastically curtailed the activities of both Nestlé Japan and ARKK, the organisational facilities set up during the inter-war period provided a springboard for Nestlé's post-war success in Japan.     

增长模式对水资源投入的依赖及对策分析

不同的经济增长方式对某种或某一类资源的依赖程度具有较大的差异,水资源就是这样一种要素.我国两三角与泛渤海地区"两头在外,中间加工"的增长模式决定了它们对水资源的高要求,而瑞士模式比两三角模式对水资源的依赖要低,这对于我国400多个严重缺水城市的可持续发展有着重要的借鉴意义.     

Quantifying the impact of farmers' social networks on the effectiveness of climate change mitigation policies in agriculture

To reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, farmers need to change current farming practices. However, farmers' climate change mitigation behaviour and particularly the role of social and individual characteristics remains poorly understood. Using an agent-based modelling approach, we investigate how knowledge exchange within farmers' social networks affects the adoption of mitigation measures and the effectiveness of a payment per ton of GHG emissions abated. Our simulations are based on census, survey and interview data for 49 Swiss dairy and cattle farms to simulate the effect of social networks on overall GHG reduction and marginal abatement costs. We find that considering social networks increases overall reduction of GHG emissions by 45% at a given payment of 120 Swiss Francs (CHF) per ton of reduced GHG emissions. The per ton payment would have to increase by 380 CHF (i.e., 500 CHF/tCO₂eq) to reach the same overall GHG reduction level without any social network effects. Moreover, marginal abatement costs for emissions are lower when farmers exchange relevant knowledge through social networks. The effectiveness of policy incentives aiming at agricultural climate change mitigation can hence be improved by simultaneously supporting knowledge exchange and opportunities of social learning in farming communities.     

State-Owned Banks as Competition Enhancers, or the Grand Illusion

We analyze the role of state ownership in the banking sector from the perspective of competition. That is, do state-owned banks play a special role as competition enhancers? Focusing on the market for mortgage loans in Switzerland, we test four hypotheses which are consistent with this view. First, are state-owned banks’ interest rates relatively cost sensitive? Second, are state-owned banks charging relatively low mark-ups? Third, are the state-owned banks’ interest rates particularly borrower friendly? And fourth, do state-owned banks exert a disciplinary effect on competitors’ prices? Based on a comprehensive database containing information at the individual bank level over the 1996–2002 period, our answer is ‘No.’     

How Political Institutions Determine Corporate Governance Reforms: The Polity,Law and Corporate Practices in the Case of Switzerland

The aim of this article is to contribute to our understanding of the role that political institutions play in the reform processes of national corporate governance regimes. I argue that existing theories are limited in that they conceive of political institutions' impact on corporate governance largely in terms of a deterministic influence on the political coalitions that emerge and on the policy outcomes. Based on the analysis of the paradigmatic case of a consensual democracy – Switzerland – I show that the consensual polity does not directly determine the outcome of a reform process, but rather the direction of causality between legal changes and changes in practices as well as the nature of the changes. Consensual polities require large parliamentary majorities for legal change to happen. Therefore, corporate practices are likely to change before legal rules and less demanding forms of institutional change, such as ‘layering’, are favoured.     

The influence of small town context on access to external knowledge

ABSTRACT

The relative lack of variety and density of people, companies and knowledge institutions in small towns compel companies to seek new knowledge beyond their location. However, there is only scant research explaining the local characteristics that influence companies’ ability to access external knowledge. In this article, the focus lies on the obstacles and opportunities that arise due to companies’ location in small towns and that emerge when they seek to access external knowledge sources. A multiple case study design with qualitative interview data from five multinational high-tech companies in small towns in the eastern part of Switzerland is used. Also, a theoretical replication of the case study by investigating two single domestic high-tech companies was conducted. The results show that a thin labour market, a lack of urban amenities and the availability of transportation connections to bigger cities are most important for accessing the knowledge of new employees, collaborating with universities and for attending workshops or conferences. On the whole, multinational companies in small towns face the same obstacles and opportunities as single domestic companies in small towns.     

新型研发机构在产学研深度融合中的作用探析——以瑞士比尔创新园为例

长期以来,在传统的科研管理体制的影响下,产学研管理体制不健全、合作行为短期化和形式化等问题严重制约了科技成果转化和产业化的推进。新一轮全球科技革命与产业变革正加速推动“科学”向“技术”转化,对科技治理体系形成一系列新挑战。为了跨越从基础研究到技术创新的“死亡谷”,国外创造性地发展了一批各具特色的新型研发机构,这些机构已经成为产学研用协同创新的重要平台和成果转化的关键支撑。本文剖析了构建新时代产学研深度融合的现实路径,在成功借鉴瑞士比尔创新园全链条创新服务模式经验的基础上,提出推动新型研发机构建设的对策建议。     

Spinoff dynamics beyond clusters: pre-entry experience and firm survival in peripheral regions

This paper investigates local spinoff dynamics in manufacturing industries in peripheral areas. It focuses on the question whether local inheritance of competences and routines from parent firm to spinoff is also relevant for firm survival in peripheral areas. The analysis is based on a unique data-set, tracking all manufacturing firms at five observation points during the time span of 1980–2004 in two case study regions in Switzerland. The results show that the local inheritance of capabilities gives spinoffs a competitive advantage in peripheral regions as well. Further, the findings suggest that spinoff dynamics differ between different types of peripheral regions, depending on their varying local economic conditions. Finally, spinoff dynamics in the periphery might be characterized by a stronger hostility of larger parent firms towards spinoffs. This research adds a distinct peripheral perspective to the entrepreneurial heritage literature and advocates for a more nuanced discussion on spinoff dynamics in varying geographical settings.