Twins of the Alps: Comparing Autonomy of Federal Organizational Units in Austria and Switzerland

This paper analyzes the perception of autonomy of the agencies on the federal level in Austria and Switzerland. The study shows there is a high correlation between the legal form and the perceived autonomy. A reason may be the deeply-rooted law tradition of the two countries. Differences between Switzerland and Austria are rare. The only strong correlation is the higher financial autonomy the Swiss agencies have possibly due to the stable financial situation of Swiss administration and the focus on financial reforms. The two countries can be considered as twins of the Alps.