The influence of direct payments on farmers’ hail insurance decisions

We analyze determinants of hail insurance use of Swiss farmers, using FADN panel data covering the period 1990–2009. Mixed effect logistic regression models are estimated to identify the most important farm and farmer characteristics that trigger insurance use. In addition, information on local hail risk is taken into account in these models. It shows that larger farms, with specialization in crop production, and with larger local hail risks are more likely to adopt the hail insurance. Moreover, insurance users are usually older and better educated. Since the early 1990s, Swiss agricultural policy has reduced price support and introduced general and ecological direct payments. This has led to a much higher importance of direct payments for farmers’ incomes. Our analysis shows that this development has contributed to decreasing hail insurance adoption rates in Switzerland over the period considered. Our results indicate that the larger the share of direct payments for total farm revenue, the less attractive is insurance as a risk management strategy for farmers. This interdependency should be explicitly considered by agricultural policy in the design of support mechanisms.     

The Effect of Cross-Border Acquisitions on Shareholder Wealth — Evidence from Switzerland

We analyze the wealth effects of 114 domestic and international acquisitions announced by Swiss corporations between 1990 and 2001. We find no difference between national and cross-border mergers. This may indicate that the international capital markets are highly integrated and is in contrast to recent empirical findings on a prevailing segmentation of capital markets within Europe. We also analyze the role of professional advisors in Swiss M&A transactions. Our results indicate that the expenses for professional advice might outweigh the potential benefits.     

Interbank Credit Lines as a Channel of Contagion

This paper assesses the potential for contagion in the Swiss interbank market using new data on bilateral bank exposures as well as on credit lines. A simulation approach is applied to assess the banking system's inherent instability. Moreover, the spill-over effects of a simulated default situation in the interbank market on the liquidity and solvency of banks are measured. The main findings are, first, that there is a substantial potential for contagion. Second, the exposure as well as the credit line contagion channel are relevant for Switzerland. Third, a lender of last resort intervention could reduce spill-over effects remarkably. Finally, the structure of the interbank market has considerable impact on its resilience against spill-over effects: Centralized markets are more prone to contagion than homogenous ones. JEL classification: C81, G21. The opinions expressed herein are my own and not those of the Swiss National Bank.     

The moderating effect of brand orientation on inter-firm market orientation and performance

Abstract

While prior research has shown that market and brand orientation are key contributors to successful business performance, research to date has not fully explored how inter firm collaboration for these two key orientations can enhance business performance. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the relationship between inter-firm market and performance; to test for the moderating role of brand orientation in that relationship. A total of 169 completed pairs of surveys were collected of small and medium enterprises operating internationally in a variety of industries in Switzerland. The results show that inter-firm market and brand orientation are two antecedents of marketing and financial performance. The impact of inter-firm market on marketing and financial performance is significant when the brand orientation is favorable. This study extends previous research by examining the moderating role of brand orientation on inter firm market orientation, which is important, especially for firms wanting to increase their brand reputation by entering into partnerships with other firms. Further research is indicated, to identify the key moderators of the driving force of inter-firm market in relation to business performance and the reason why maintaining a strong brand presence is important in the international marketplace.     

Analyzing Educational Achievement Differences between Second‐Generation Immigrants: Comparing Germany and German‐Speaking Switzerland

In this study, I provide evidence that the educational achievement of second‐generation immigrants in German‐speaking Switzerland is greater than in Germany. The impact of the first‐generation immigrants' destination decision on their offspring's educational achievement seems to be much more important than has been recognized by the existing literature. I identify the test score gap between these students that cannot be explained by differences in individual and family characteristics. Moreover, I show how this gap evolves over the test score distribution and how the least favorably endowed students fare. My results suggest that the educational system of Switzerland, relative to the German system, enhances the performance of immigrants' children substantially. This disparity is largest when conditioning on the language spoken at home, and prevails even when comparing only students whose parents migrated from the same country of origin.     

Going beyond landscape change description: Quantifying the importance of driving forces of landscape change in a Central Europe case study

Over the past decades, urban sprawl and agricultural intensification have enormously changed the traditional cultural landscape of the Swiss lowlands. This research aims to analyze the driving forces of urbanization, agricultural intensification, and greening in five municipalities of the periurban Limmat Valley, near Zurich, Switzerland. The main objectives of the paper are (1) to quantify the change in urbanization, agricultural intensification, and greening, (2) to determine the driving forces of landscape change, (3) to determine the relative importance of socioeconomic, political, cultural, technological, and natural/spatial driving forces, and (4) to establish from which administrative levels and spatial scales the most important driving forces originate. Changes for the periods 1930–1956, 1957–1976, and 1977–2000 are documented based on a comparison of cartographic maps. A list of 73 potentially relevant driving forces is established based on document analysis. Based on further document analysis and expert interviews, 52 of them were found to be relevant primary driving forces for the documented landscape changes. We found that in all three periods, urbanization was the most important process of change. Greening is steadily increasing in importance and surpassed agricultural intensification in the last period. Overall, as well as for urbanization, the economic driving forces, followed by political driving forces, are most important for landscape changes in all three periods. Cantonal driving forces are most important, followed by the national, local and international driving forces. By presenting an approach to quantify the contribution of major driving forces groups to landscape change this study contributes to method development in land change research.     

The transformation of global luxury brands: The case of the Swiss watch company Longines, 1880–2010

Abstract

This article discusses the transformation of global brands between the 1880s and the early twenty-first century, through the example of the Swiss watch company Longines. It shows that the concept of ‘global brand’ changed over time and was related to the nature of the product. Until the 1970s, luxury was linked to precision. Manufacturers focused on the production of movements and adapted the design of end products to each market. Yet the paradigm shift brought about by electronics led to a new definition of luxury during the 1990s, a change which led to a new generation of global brands.     

Inequality and Wealth: Comparing the Gender Wealth Gap in Switzerland and Australia

ABSTRACT

Although the gender gap in incomes has been extensively researched, scant attention has been paid to the gender wealth gap. This paper compares the gender wealth gap in Australia with that of Switzerland. Using data from the 2010 Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) and the 2012 Swiss Household Panel (SHP), this study attributes the gender wealth gap to differences in permanent income and education. Furthermore, the gender wealth gap is much larger in Switzerland than in Australia. The study links this finding to the type of wealth held by individuals in these two countries. Differences in wealth accumulation among women in Switzerland and Australia are likely to be linked to the housing market and to family policies for (single) mothers.     

Quantifying entrepreneurship and its impact on local economic performance: A spatial assessment in rural Switzerland

Regional and rural development policies in Europe increasingly emphasize entrepreneurship to mobilize the endogenous economic potential of rural territories. This study develops a concept to quantify entrepreneurship as place-dependent local potential to examine its impact on the local economic performance of rural territories in Switzerland. The short-to-medium-term impact of entrepreneurship on the economic performance of 1706 rural municipalities in Switzerland is assessed by applying three spatial random effects models. Results suggest a generally positive relationship between entrepreneurship and local development: rural municipalities with higher entrepreneurial potential generally show higher business tax revenues per capita and a lower share of social welfare cases among the population, although the impact on local employment is less clear. The explanatory power of entrepreneurship in all three models, however, was only moderate. This finding suggests that political expectations of fostering entrepreneurship to boost endogenous rural development in the short-to-medium term should be damped.     

Information provision and preferences for education spending: Evidence from representative survey experiments in three countries

Do citizens' preferences about education policies differ across industrialized countries? To gain comparative evidence on public preferences for education spending, we conduct representative experiments with information treatments in Switzerland using identical survey techniques previously used in Germany and the United States. In Switzerland, providing information about actual spending and salary levels reduces support for increased education spending from 54 to 40 percent and for increased teacher salaries from 27 to 19 percent, respectively. The broad patterns of education policy preferences are similar across the three countries when the role of status-quo and information are taken into account.