News
In a collaboration with Professors Pierre Fleckinger and Constance Monnier, both affiliated with OCA, our competition law disputes partner in France, Tobias Binz and Christian Jaag authored an article on the sensitivity underlying theoretical predictions of the pass-on rate. The article has been published in Concurrences N°4-2019.
The article can be accessed online through the Concurrences website.
Christian Jaag gave the opening keynote at the CV summit Frankfurt which is part of this year’s Euro Finance Week.
Christian Jaag shared his thoughts on “Be your own bank? The role of financial institutions in a decentralized economy”.
The Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation has published its Final Determination on the maximum level of passenger levies that Dublin Airport may charge over the 2020-24 regulatory period.
The new price cap regime ensures that passengers travelling through Dublin Airport will experience high-quality services at a reasonable cost. Swiss Economics advised the Commission on the appropriate allowance for capital costs. In our work, we considered recent developments in financial markets, Dublin Airport’s ambitious investment plans, differences in risk profiles across airports, and many other factors that play a role in determining the regulatory WACC. The Commission has published our report alongside its Final Determination on its website.
To the Swiss Economics report
To the Final Determination of the Commission for Aviation Regulation
At the "Infrastrukturtagung 2019" Christian Jaag presented a literature overview on the effects of climate change on Swiss infrastructures.
Abstract of the report:
"Wie wird sich der Klimawandel auf die Schweizer Infrastruktursektoren auswirken? Im Rahmen eines Literaturüberblicks werden Studien aus dem In- und Ausland ab dem Jahr 2007 ausgewertet. Die zusätzlichen Schäden entstehen durch den schleichenden Klimawandel und Extremereignisse. Neben dem Transport- und dem Energiesektor sind auch die Wasserversorgung, Industrieinfrastrukturen, soziale Infrastrukturen und der Tourismus betroffen. Obwohl der Klimawandel insgesamt mehr Schaden als Nutzen bringt, hat er auch positive Auswirkungen. Zum Beispiel kommt es zu weniger kältebedingten Schäden an Strassen und Schienen und die Ausgaben für Heizenergie sinken. Mit steigenden Temperaturen nimmt auch die relative Attraktivität der Schweiz als Sommer-Tourismusdestination zu. Sämtliche verfügbaren Quantifizierungen der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels sind allerdings noch mit grossen Unsicherheiten behaftet."
Christian Jaag becomes an Advisor to the Centre for Evidence Based Blockchain (CEBB) and Swiss Economics' Centre for Cryptoeconomics joins the CEEB as an institutional member.
CEBB is a neutral, independent and decentralised consortium of leading Blockchain research institutions.
Led by some of the world's most eminent academics, CEBB will devise scientific benchmarks and frameworks to support governments, businesses and policymakers in making evidence-based decisions. As a collective voice on the advancement of Evidence-Based blockchain, the academic "Think Tank" of thought leaders and researchers endeavours to establish internationally agreed standards on education, research and policy-making for blockchain technologies. CEBB will also support organisations in setting up regional and institutional EBB chapters, run by the CEBB Leads. CEBB will also assist with the advancement of high-quality research, call for papers and dissemination of scholarly content within the CEBB network. It will also facilitate joint initiatives, workshops, journal clubs, and other academic activities with CEBB members.
Christian Jaag spoke at the UPU World CEO Forum about Blockchain in the postal sector.
As digitalization takes hold and affects whole swathes of national economies, businesses need to adapt and innovate more rapidly than ever. In this context, blockchain and cryptographic technologies can be part of the answer. Yet, there are several possible elements to innovation in this area. An increasingly popular idea is to have start-ups develop the innovations that postal operators will later apply to their business processes. Christian Jaag had an Interesting discussion with Moses Ma, Derek Osborn and the world's postal CEOs about how they have considered and/or applied blockchain innovations in the international postal sector, including through partnerships with start-ups.
Following an in-depth merger examination, the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) cleared the transaction Sunrise | Liberty Global on 23 September 2019 without any remedies. Swiss Economics closely accompanied the examination from the outset with economic expertise.
According to COMCO, the transaction will not lead to the creation or strengthening of a dominant position in any of the markets analysed. Rather, COMCO expects the takeover to stimulate competition. Further details can be found in the COMCO press release.
Swiss Economics collaborated during the whole merger examination closely with Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd. (MLL), who advised and represented Sunrise in this merger control proceeding from the outset. Swiss Economics was – inter alia – responsible for data handling, contributed to the economic analysis in all phases of the merger control proceeding and drafted several reports. Our team included Samuel Rutz, Michael Funk, Matthias Hafner and Tobias Binz. On the part of MLL, the team was led by Mario Strebel and included Fabian Koch, André Berne and Göktug Gürbüz. The close collaboration between Swiss Economics and MLL ensured optimal case management both from a legal and economic perspective.
The redistribution from the rich to the poor is very important, as a new study by the University of Lucerne, in which Melanie Häner was involved, shows. A summary of the study was published in today's Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
In addition to a redistributive effect between generations, the OASI also has a redistributive effect from rich to poor. OASI contributions above a certain income have the character of a "high-wage tax" and the minimum pension acts as a basic income for pensioners. The NZZ article by Christoph Schaltegger, Christian Frey and Melanie Häner quantifies the extent of this redistribution.
Publication of a proposal for an amended Swiss electricity market design. Guarantees of origin play a crucial role.
Author: Urs Trinkner
Samuel Rutz speaks about health tourism in "Schweiz Aktuell", a daily news broadcast of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (
The video clip can be accessed through the SRG's website.
Who’s Who Legal 2019 featured Samuel Rutz, Michael Funk and Christian Jaag for their outstanding work in competition economics.
Samuel Rutz is mentioned in the following categories:
- - Competition - Economists
- - Experts - Economics - Competition Economists
WWL says: Samuel Rutz is a well-recognised figure in the Swiss market who is commended for his profound knowledge of competition regulation and policy.
Michael Funk is mentioned in the following categories:
- - Competition Future Leaders - Economists
- - Experts - Economics - Competition Economists - Future Leaders
WWL says: Michael Funk is recognised by peers as an "experienced competition economist" who is able to draw on his "great background" at the Swiss investigation authority.
Christian Jaag is mentioned in the following categories:
- - Competition - Economists
- - Experts - Economics - Competition Economists
- - Switzerland - Competition Economists
WWL says: At Swiss Economics, Christian Jaag is lauded as “one of the very best economists active today” who is “able to convey and explain highly complex matters to a broad range of audiences”. He possesses “in-depth knowledge of the area” and is known for his “great ability to challenge traditional concepts”.
We concluded the celebrations for our 10th anniversary with a trip to the Monte Rosa Hut.
We concluded the celebrations for our 10-year-anniversary with a trip to the Monte Rosa Hut in the Swiss Alps close to Zermatt. Guided by Peter Schoch we enjoyed the beautiful nature between Matterhorn and Monte Rosa.
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Start towards Monte Rosa |
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"Edelweiss" on the wayside |
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Entrance of the Gorner Glacier |
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Monte Rosa Hut during dinner |
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| On the panoramic tour back to Zermatt |
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Crevasse in the upper part of the Gorner Glacier |
Swiss Economics' center for cryptoeconomics is awarded with the Fintech Award "Best Economic Research & Consulting Services 2019 - Europe" hosted by Wealth & Finance International.
To the Award
More on the Center for Cryptoeconomics (cryptecon)
Swiss Economics is happy to announce the new collaboration with CV VC, a Swiss venture capital company for start-ups using Blockchain technology.
Swiss Economics' collaborates with CV VC, the largest investment ecosystem for start-ups using Blockchain technology in Zug, Switzerland. Swiss Economic's platform for blockchain and cryptocurrencies (cryptecon) mentors the participants of the CV Labs Incubation Program. The first edition of the program is now ongoing. Out of 500 applications from 35 countries, 12 startups were selected to participate in the program.
Christian Jaag and Matthias Hafner met the start-ups and presented their expertise and experience in platform and monetary economics for token-based projects. They presented the most important characteristics, considerations and decisions to be made when designing token-based ecosystems.
Urs Trinkner presented his views on how to improve the institutional design of the Swiss rail market at the Lucerne symposium "20 years of railways reform".
To the presentation
To the program
Michael Funk gave two speeches at the 27th Conference for Postal and Delivery Economics in rainy Dublin.
Michael Funk presented his interpretation of the seminal Post Denmark II decision as well as a paper by his colleagues Andreas Haller, Christian Jaag, and Urs Trinkner on the funding of the USO and net cost balancing. As always, this yearly conference of academics and practitioners provided a tremendous opportunity for learning and connecting.
Publication of Samuel Rutz and Urs Trinkner on the economics of water and whether Swiss water utilities should be privatised or not.
Wasser ist aus ökonomischer Sicht kein öffentliches Gut. Gleichwohl kann die leitungsgebundene Wasserversorgung nicht unbesehen den Marktkräften überlassen werden, da insbesondere beim Verteilnetz ein «monopolistischer Engpass» besteht. Die Ausgangslage präsentiert sich ähnlich wie bei Strom-, Gas- und Schienennetzen: Entweder erbringt die öffentliche Hand die gewünschte Versorgung selbst, oder sie übergibt diese an öffentliche oder private Leistungserbringer. Im zweiten Fall gewährleistet er die Qualität der Wasserversorgung durch Regulierung. Aus ökonomischer Sicht sind beide Wege gangbar. Für Schweizer Gemeinden, die über eine gute direktdemokratische Kontrolle verfügen, kann die öffentliche Eigenerbringung vorteilhaft sein.
Autoren: Samuel Rutz, Urs Trinkner
On behalf of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Swiss Economics has updated its findings on the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical measures to combat the pandemic.
Swiss Economics has examined the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions ("NPI") to contain the coronavirus (to the Swiss Economics study) for a second time. This is an update of the meta-analysis on this topic commissioned by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in June 2020. In addition to the question of the effectiveness of NPI, the study also evaluates the literature on the costs of particular measures and discusses the findings on factors such as the weather and the acceptance of NPI among the population. In the course of combating the pandemic, the question of the optimal level of intervention also arose in Switzerland. Another part of the study is devoted to this question.
Felix Wüthrich and Luca Apreda now Economist, Eva Zuberbühler und Nicolas Eschenbaum now Senior Economist
We are expanding our team:
Felix Wüthrich strengthens our team as an Economist in the areas of environmental economics, behavioural economics and data analysis. During his studies at ETH Zurich, Felix already completed an internship at Swiss Economics and subsequently supported our team as an Analyst.
Luca Apreda, now also Economist, has a focus on regulation and quantitative methods. After completing his Master's degree at the University of Bern, Luca joined Swiss Economics as an Analyst.
Dr. Eva Zuberbühler has been promoted to Senior Economist. Her expertise lies in the areas of regulation, competition, strategy and pricing. Prior to completing her PhD in industrial economics at the University of Bern, Eva worked as a corporate client advisor at a major bank
Dr. Nicolas Eschenbaum has also been promoted to Senior Economist. He focuses on competition economics and digital markets. Nicolas received his PhD in industrial economics from the University of St. Gallen and conducted postdoctoral research on the competitive impact of artificial intelligence, among other topics.
We congratulate all four and wish them much success and joy in their further work for Swiss Economics.
Michael Funk was asked about the consquences of the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) by SRF's daily podcast "Newsplus".
The EU is working to improve the current regulatory framework for digital products. The introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) is intended to create a uniform set of rules valid throughout the EU.
Michael Funk was asked by SRF about the consequences of the extensive package for Switzerland.
To the podcast (in German): https://www.srf.ch/audio/news-plus/eine-neue-aera-fuer-internet-giganten?id=12166241
We are pleased to welcome Dr. Nicolas Eschenbaum as a new team member of Swiss Economics. He will strengthen our competences in competition economics and regulation.
Nicolas Eschenbaum is an experienced economist focusing on competition economics and economics of digitization.
He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Finance from the University of St. Gallen with a thesis in industrial organization with a focus on digital markets. Prior to joining Swiss Economics, Nicolas worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of St. Gallen, where he continues to conduct research and teach. Currently, his research focuses on the intersection of game theory and artificial intelligence.
We are pleased to announce that Matteo Mattmann has been appointed Managing Economist as of January 1.
We welcome Matteo Mattmann among the shareholders of Swiss Economics. As a member of the Management Board, he will develop our activities in health and behavioural economics. We wish him every success in his new position and look forward to thee continuing collaboration.
Since January 2021, Swiss Economics is a carbon neutral company. Swiss Economics minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and offsets emissions that cannot be avoided.
The exact principles with which we try to contribute to the achievement of Switzerland's climate goals can be found here.
For the year 2021, our employees have decided to offset by means of a reforestation project in Nicaragua. The offset is certified by myclimate.
The modernisation of Swiss merger control is the core element of the partial revision of the Cartel Act (KG). With its 2017 study about the SIEC test, Swiss Economics made an important contribution to the revision.
The partial revision of the KG envisages adapting the Swiss test for merger control to international practice. The fundamental difference between the market dominance test applied in Switzerland so far and the newly envisaged SIEC test lies in the level of the intervention hurdle. Under the SIEC test, mergers can be prohibited or subject to appropriate conditions if they lead to a "significant" impediment to competition. In contrast, under the current standard of review, this is only possible if a merger "completely" eliminates effective competition. In addition, the planned revision also aims to strengthen private damages actions and provides for several procedural changes as well as a clarification with regard to inadmissible agreements.
The consultation period lasts until 11 March 2022. It can be assumed that the new provisions will not enter into force before 2023/24.
Malou and Valpuri had the opportunity to spend the "Future Day" at Swiss Economics.
Highlights of their day in our office were conducting interviews and editing them into a video, behavioural economics experiments with a chocolate reward and eating pizza in the park. The thoughts of the two primary school students of their fathers' work are in the video below.
Ann-Kathrin Crede participated in the SRF programme "Club" on the topic of National Immunisation Week and contributed with her behavioural economics expertise to the question of how to incentivize people to vaccinate themselves.
Quelle: srf.ch
Swiss Economics/cryptecon continue to support the CV Labs Incubation Program for start-ups using the Blockchain technology.
Recently, Juan Beccuti joined CV Labs as a mentor for the start-ups' incubation program. Together with Matthias Hafner (who joined CV Labs in 2019), he shares his expertise in platform and token economics. They present and discuss with the program's participants the main characteristics, considerations, and decisions to consider when designing token-based ecosystems.
Presentation of the interim report in the project to hedge terror and pandemic risks at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin.
Swiss Economics, presented together with Christian Hott (from Economic Advice) the first results in the project on hedging terror and pandemic risks at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin.
Lilia is a quantitative economist strengthening our competencies in analyzing panel and time-series data. Lilia is proficient in English and German with mother tongue Russian.
Dr. Lilia Ruslanova is a quantiative economist focusing on empirical methods, econometrics and DCF modelling. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Zurich. During her work as a doctoral student as well as research associate at the University of Zurich, she accumulated years of proficient experience in processing and analyzing data using various quantitative methods and statistical tools. The main fields of her research interests are International Macroeconomics, International Trade, Financial Regulation, Financial and Real Estate Markets.
Juan is a microeconomist and industrial engineer with a focus on market design. He will support Swiss Economics in platform and crypto economics.
Juan is an experienced economist focusing on platform economics, contract theory, and auctions. Amongst others, he will support our team in the analysis of incentives in crypto markets and blockchain protocols. Juan's mother tongue is Spanish, extending our reach into the Hispanic region.
Juan holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid with a dissertation about mechanism design. He also has a degree in industrial engineering. Prior to joining Swiss Economics full-time, Juan supported Swiss Economics as a Senior Fellow and worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Bern.