News
We are delighted to welcome Nina Schnyder and Stephan Minger to the team and congratulate Andreas Stritt on his promotion.
Andreas Stritt has been with Swiss Economics since 2022 and has been promoted to Economist. He focuses on energy, transport and competition economics. He earned a Master's degree in economics from the University of Berne, with a focus on data analysis and industrial economics.
Nina Schnyder also joins the team as an Economist. She holds a Master's degree in Environmental Economics from the London School of Economics. After graduating, she worked as an energy and environmental consultant in London and Berlin and will continue to specialize in these areas at Swiss Economics.
Stephan Minger joins Swiss Economics as an Analyst. He holds a Master's degree in Economics from the University of St. Gallen with a focus on financial economics and data analysis. During his studies, he worked as a reasearch assistant in the areas of financial market econometrics, derivatives and monetary policy.
We are confident that their skills and experience will be a valuable addition to our team.
We warmly welcome Winand Emons to our team as a consultant!
We are pleased to welcome Prof. emer. Dr. Winand Emons as a counsel to the Swiss Economics team. He strengthens our team especially in the area of competition economics. Winand Emons has not only distinguished himself in research and teaching at the University of Bern, but has also held important positions as a member of the Competition Commission, Dean and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences and a member of the Research Commission of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). His work in his main research focus in the areas of law and economics, microeconomics and competition economics led to numerous publications in renowned journals.
We warmly welcome Winand Emons and wish him success and pleasure in his new activities for Swiss Economics.
Swiss Economics has supported the AZ Regionalfernsehen AG and CH Media in their applications for broadcasting licenses for the years 2025 to 2034.
AZ Regionalfernsehen AG successfully applied with Tele M1 and TeleBärn for the broadcasting licenses in the Aargau/Solothurn and Bern regions. An expert opinion from Swiss Economics was submitted as part of the application. Swiss Economics prepared a second report for CH Media too, that led to a similar success. CH Media has acquired with Radio Central the local radio broadcasting license for the Central-Switzerland region.
Our reports examined in particular the influence of the award of the license on the diversity of offerings and opinions. The focus was on the conflict of objectives between the strict structural independence of broadcasters and their possibility of offering a diverse program. The positive externality of media content for democratic decision-making, which justifies state support for public service, only exists if viewers are truly interested in the broadcasted content. Very small, but structurally independent media providers are usually unable to build up the necessary reach with their limited financial resources, e.g. due to the lack of economies of scale. In addition, there are strong incentives to provide a diverse program, particularly in concentrated media markets.
Swiss Economics concludes in its reports that the synergy benefits and the strengthening of regional media in journalistic competition outweigh any concerns regarding structural independence.
Click here for the project entry on our website.
We welcome Maida Sabotic and Elena Zarkovic to our team and congratulate Seline Spillman and Leah Meyer de Stadelhofen on their promotions.
Seline Spillmann joins our team as Economist. Her focus is on data analysis in various topics as well as labor economics. Among other things, she is active in the fields of competition economics and health. In her master she studied economics at the University of Zurich with a focus on econometrics. During her studies, she worked as a Research Assistant in the area of globalization and labor markets at the University of Zurich.
Elena Zarković joins us as an analyst. She studied economics and business administration in her bachelor's at the University of St. Gallen, where she also earned an additional certificate in Data Science Fundamentals. During her studies, she worked as a research assistant at the Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research at the University of St. Gallen.
Maida Sabotic joins the Swiss Economics team as an Economist. Her areas of expertise include economic policy and data analysis. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics, Politics and History from the University of Zurich as well as Master's degree in Economics and Data Science. During her studies she worked at the Institute of Economics at the University of Zurich. After her Master's degree, she completed an internship in economic development cooperation at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
Leah Meyer de Stadelhofen joins our team as an Economist, focusing on behavioral economics, industrial economics and data analysis. Her areas of expertise include regulation, environmental economics, and energy. In addition, Leah joins our Romandie department and is thus involved in the development of Swiss Economics in French-speaking Switzerland and France. She holds a Master in Economics from the University of Lausanne with a specialization in Behavior, Economics, and Evolution. During her studies, she worked as a Teaching Assistant in Microeconomics.
We congratulate all of them and wish them much success and joy in their new activities for Swiss Economics.
We warmly congratulate our staff member, Nicolals Greber, on receiving the ACCL Award for his Master's thesis! The award ceremony took place on 19 September at the Atelier de la Concurrence in Bern.
In his Master's thesis, Nicolas Greber examined the behaviour of self-learning pricing algorithms. Recent studies have shown that certain AI pricing algorithms are able to learn tacit collusion in oligopoly models. Nicolas picked up there with his master's thesis, analysing the behaviour of two more recent AI pricing algorithms. The first algorithm, known as the "deep deterministic policy gradient", failed to achieve constant convergence. In contrast, the second algorithm, the "multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient", achieved consistent results in a Nash equilibrium. These findings were confirmed by various robustness tests.
We wish Nicolas all the best and success in his PhD at the University of Zürich and in his work for Swiss Economics.
Last weekend we celebrated our 15th anniversary with a visit to the power station, dinner and an overnight stay at the Grimsel Hospiz!
Last weekend we spent an unforgettable time together at the Grimsel Hospiz, surrounded by the breathtaking scenery of the Grimsel region.
Highlights included exciting excursions to the hydroelectric power plant and the impressive Aare Gorge, and a delicious 5-course meal. These experiences deepen our appreciation for 15 years of successful projects.
As passionate economists, we are proud of our continuous growth. This journey would not have been possible without our dedicated team and inspiring projects.
Here's to the next exciting chapters full of success and exciting projects!
In a recent presentation at the Blockchance conference in Hamburg, Matthias Hafner explored the factors that influence the stability of stablecoins and discussed how they relate to recent developments in CBDCs and the tokenization of real-world assets.
Drawing from recent literature, including his own research conducted at the University of Zurich, Matthias Hafner emphasized that the construction and management of collateral are key determinants of stablecoin stability. While externally derived collateral value may compromise the independence of the stablecoin ecosystem, collateral value derived from within the ecosystem carries the risk of death spirals, as observed with TerraUSD. Additionally, centralized management may offer cost-effectiveness but exposes the stablecoin ecosystem to the risk of bank runs, as exemplified by the recent USDC depeg incident.
Further, Matthias Hafner argued that the advent of CBDCs and tokenized real-world assets could potentially put pressure on the demand for stablecoins in the future. This could, for example, result in the need to introduce solutions for stablecoins that offer interest payments based on their underlying collateral.
More detailed information can be found here:
Blockchance presentation slides
Matthias Hafner's research on stablecoins
We are happy to announce that Matthias Hafner has been promoted to Principal. Nicolas Oderbolz has been supporting our team as an Economist since the beginning of this year.
Matthias Hafner supports our team with immediate effect as a Principal and remains the Director of the Center for Cryptoeconomics.
His areas of expertise include financial services, blockchains and cryptoassets.
With his expertise and many years of experience, he will continue to make an indispensable contribution to the further development of these areas. Matthias regularly advises large companies and public authorities and supports start-ups in the implementation of their projects. In addition, he is writing his dissertation and teaches at the University of Zurich on various crypto topics. Before joining Swiss Economics in 2016, he worked at the Competition Commission.
Nicolas Oderbolz has joined Swiss Economics as an Economist with a focus on regulation, health and blockchain. He is involved in various projects in the fields of energy, data analytics and cryptoassets.
Nicolas completed his Bachelor and Master studies in Economics at the University of Zurich, with a focus on empirical methods and data analysis. During his studies, he worked as a research assistant at the University of Zurich in the field of labour and development economics. He has been a valuable part of the Swiss Economics team since the summer of 2022.
We congratulate both of them and wish them much success and joy in their new activities for Swiss Economics.
The article "Blockchain und ihre Anwendungen" by Matthias Hafner and Dr. Christian Jaag was recently published in the quarterly issue of the zsis) Centre for Swiss and International Tax Law.
In their contribution, they explain how blockchain works through illustrative examples and use cases. In addition, they explain the legal classification of crypto-assets and show the limits of the technology.
The publication can be accessed here.
Matthias Hafner presented his research on stablecoins at the Wolfram ChainScience conference in Boston, USA.
The article, "The Four Types of Stablecoins: A Comparative Analysis" (jointly with Marco Henriques Pereira, Prof. Dr. Helmut Dietl, and Juan Beccuti) discusses the conditions under which stablecoins may lose their value. Among others, they explore the crash of Terra and the de- and re-peg of the USDC stablecoin.
Link to the slides: The Four Types of Stablecoins (swiss-economics.ch)
In less than a week, the Shanghai-update is going to be realized on the Ethereum Beacon Chain. This long-anticipated event in the blockchain community motivated us to discuss and compare staking designs of different blockchains in a series of blog post.
In our second blog post of this series, we analyze and compare the staking designs of different blockchains from an economic perspective. To make the information more accessible and compact, we also created a table which can serve as a quick reference.
You can find the whole publication and our new Company Profile on Medium.
Don't hesitate to follow us there to stay updated on our upcoming publications!
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