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
Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) cleared the transaction Sunrise | Liberty Global. Swiss Economics accompanied the examination from the outset with economic expertise.
Swiss Economics unterstütze Sunrise in diesem Verfahren in enger Zusammenarbeit mit der Anwaltskanzlei Lenz & Staehelin. Unser Team umfasste Samuel Rutz, Michael Funk, Matthias Hafner und Christian Jaag.
Swiss Economics hatte Sunrise bereits im letztjährigen Fusionskontrollverfahren bezüglich der umgekehrten Transaktion erfolgreich unterstützt. Schon damals hatte die WEKO den Zusammenschluss nach vertiefter Prüfung bedingungslos freigegeben. Anschliessend lehnte jedoch die Mehrheit der Aktionäre/innen die Übernahme ab. Nach erneuter Prüfung kam die WEKO zum Schluss, dass die Marktverhältnisse seither weitgehend unverändert blieben.
Who’s Who Legal 2020 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 receives widespread commendations for his excellent practice, which sees him provide commercially astute analysis on competition policy issues.
Christian Jaag is mentioned in the following categories:
- - Competition - Economists
- - Experts - Economics - Competition Economists
- - Switzerland - Competition Economists
WWL says: Christian Jaag is "highly recommended" as "one of the very best competition economists in Switzerland". Peers and clients say: "Christian is brilliant at connecting academic and abstract thinking to concrete business needs."
Swiss Economics Principal Tobias Binz discusses this question in an article published in the latest issue of Competition and Regulation in Network Industries.
He uses a microeconomic framework to illustrate how firm and market characteristics determine the extent to which economy-wide demand shocks are translated into profit fluctuations. The findings may help regulators to improve the composition of the peer groups that are used to assess airports' Beta risk.
The published article can be accessed online through Competition and Regulation in Network Industries' website. A working paper version is available here.
The Fair Price Initiative aims to introduce the concept of "relative market power" to Swiss competition law. However, from an economic point of view, the concept is not an appropriate instrument to combat the high prices in Switzerland.
Read more (German)
Swiss Economics was commissioned by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to conduct a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
On the 27th of April, two months after they were first introduced, the federal government started to relax the measures to contain the spread of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). It cannot be ruled out that this easing will lead to a renewed increase in infection rates or even a second wave of infections.
The Swiss Economics study provides an overview of available evidence on the effectiveness of various measures and indicates which measures would be particularly appropriate to implement in case infection rates start to increase again.
Swiss Economics supported the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation in determining capital costs over the 2020-24 regulatory period. The Appeals Panel has decided in favour of the Commission of Aviation Regulation regarding appeals about capital costs.
Swiss Economics supported the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) in determining capital costs (WACC) over the 2020-24 regulatory period. After CAR published its projections, appeals have been made by Dublin Airport and Raynair. Among other points, the appeals targeted capital costs. An independent panel has now rejected most points of these appeals including the capital costs. CAR welcomes the decision of the panel and its argumentation. The panel stated that the numbers rely on the evaluation of the current economic conditions and conform with statutory requirements.
Press Release from the Commission for Aviation Regulation (2 June 2020)
Sunrise claims damages of CHF 350 million from Swisscom for abuse of its dominant position in the ADSL wholesale sector. Swiss Economics has supported Sunrise in quantifying the harm from the infringement.
Extract from the press release:
Swisscom abused its dominant market position from 2001 to 2007, and unlawfully hindered the competition with its pricing policy for ADSL services. The former monopolist practised a margin squeeze which made it impossible for Sunrise as a wholesale customer, to operate its ADSL business profitably.
This was confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court on December 9, 2019 after a ten-year appeal process. Swisscom was sentenced to a fine of CHF 186 million.
On the basis of this ruling, Sunrise is claiming damages of CHF 350 million plus interest from Swisscom.
Sunrise commissioned the renowned consulting company Swiss Economics to calculate the damage to Sunrise. This is due to the loss of market share and prevented gain in the broadband Internet market and adjacent markets (landline and mobile communications). The total amounts to CHF 457 million, a greater number than originally assumed. As a precautionary measure to prevent limitation, Sunrise had interrupted the statute of limitation for a claim of CHF 350 million and is filing a claim for damages of CHF 350 million plus interest with the Bern Commercial Court today.
Our team includes Christian Jaag, Michael Funk and Matthias Hafner.
The Swiss Competition Commission has approved a merger between Swiss railway company SBB Cargo and several road freight firms without imposing any remedies. Swiss Economics provided economic evidence related to efficiencies arising from the merger to inform the Commission's thinking.
The Competition Commission found that the investment of Swiss Combi (a joint venture of Planzer, Camion-Transport, Galliker, and Bertschi) in SBB Cargo does not eliminate competition in any of the concerned markets. The decision will increase the economic viability of the Swiss rail freight business and will lead to innovative new services being made available.
During Phase II of the investigation, Swiss Economics, in collaboration with SBB Cargo and law firm Walder Wyss, produced detailed economic evidence of the investment's effects on competition and welfare. The engagement was led by Samuel Rutz, Michael Funk, and Tobias Binz.
We welcome our new team member Dr. Ann-Kathrin Crede, focusing on Behavioral Economics.
Ann-Kathrin Crede works as an economist with a focus on Behavioral Economics. She graduated with her PhD in Behavioral and Experimental Economics at the University of Bern and gained experience in running laboratory and field experiments and in applying behavioural insights to organizations during her time as a research assistant.
She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Passau and a Bachelor’s degree in Business & Economics and French from the University of Kassel.
The French Autorité de régulation des transports (ART) has published its opinion on the appropriate level of the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) for Parisian airports Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Le Bourget.
The opinion will play a central role in the negotiations between Aéroports de Paris Group and the French government regarding the Economic Regulation Agreement over the 2021-25 period.
For the assessment of Beta risk, the regulator relied on evidence provided by Swiss Economics. Our contribution was twofold. First, we analysed what drives airports’ systematic risk and defined risk categories for airports under ART’s mandate. Second, we identified valid comparator airports and determined the level of their Beta risk, using regression analysis of stock returns. Our reports on drivers of Beta risk and comparator Betas can be downloaded directly from ART’s website:
Team members of Swiss Economics awarded by Who is Who Switzerland 2020.
Christian Jaag and Samuel Rutz are highlighted for their excellent work as Competition Economists:
“At Swiss Economics, Christian Jaag has an exemplary ability ‘to convey and explain highly complex matters’ to peers and clients alike. His knowledge and skillset make him a ‘brilliant economist to work with’ and one of the leading names in Switzerland.”
“Samuel Rutz of Swiss Economics has wide-ranging knowledge and extensive experience of competition regulation and policy matters in Switzerland.”
#whoswholegal #wwl #competition
Who's Who Legal and Client Choice honoured Christian Jaag as the best Competition Economist in Switzerland in 2020.
At the inaugural Who's Who Legal Switzerland Awards ceremony on February 12, 2020, in Zurich Christian Jaag received the Competition Economist of the Year 2020 Award. Each year Who's Who Legal presents awards to individuals that have performed exceptionally well in each of the featured practice areas according to Who's Who Legal's research.
To the WWL Switzerland award winners
In addition, Christian Jaag was recently rewarded with the Lexology Client Choice award also for his work as a Competition Economist.
Established in 2005, Client Choice recognises those individuals around the world that stand apart for the excellent client care they provide and the quality of their service. The criteria for this recognition focus on the ability to add real value to clients’ businesses above and beyond the other players in the market.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) attracted not only politicians, managers and scientists to Davos but also Blockchain experts, start-ups and investors. Swiss Economics was delighted to exchange views with them.
During the World Economic Forum (WEF), the incubation space provider of the largest Swiss Blockchain Venture Capitalist, CV Labs, organized several events in Davos designed to showcase and discuss the Blockchain ecosystem. Since Christian Jaag, Matthias Hafner and Jan Christoph Schlegel are mentoring start-ups from the CV Labs incubation program, we were happy to see them pitch and progress, and to exchange views about current topics in the Blockchain ecosystem. Discussions included successful projects Swiss Economics supported in the past. CV VC proudly stated that there are now over 800 Blockchain companies in Switzerland and Lichtenstein. Swiss Economics is looking forward to new exciting collaborations in the Blockchain industry.
Swiss Economics Principal Michael Funk presents his views on the importance of economic analyses in antitrust proceedings during the “Swiss Network on Public Economics”-Workshop at ETH Zurich
At the first workshop of the "Swiss Network on Public Economics" Michael Funk presented a paper on the importance of economic analyses in antitrust proceedings. The focus was on the most recent development in Switzerland, which has resulted in the marginalisation of the economy. This development contrasts with the development in the European Union, where the negative effects of a violation of antitrust law are generally the focus of the proceedings.
The aim of the newly founded network is to strengthen relations between academics and practitioners at universities, in public administrations, the Swiss National Bank and private institutions.
Swiss Economics supports the second incubation program of the largest investment ecosystem for start-ups using the Blockchain technology in Zug, Switzerland (CV Labs Incubation Program).
Recently, Christian Jaag and Matthias Hafner met the start-ups and presented their expertise and experience in platform and monetary economics for token-based projects. In their workshop they discussed characteristics, considerations and decisions to be made when designing token-based ecosystems.