There are important price differences between Switzerland and EC countries in the examined product groups with the exception of cars, motorcycles and bicycles. The price differences are smaller within the EC than between EC and non member countries, confirming the assumption that economic...

The migration policies and their effects on the labor market, can be analysed by the institutional mechanisms and the arrangements between economic actors and the Stale who are part of the processus guiding the construction of the policy. The hypothesis we are developping in this article is that...

This paper investigates, in a contractual framework, the impact of foreign workers, with short term residence permits, on the Swiss labor market. Investments in firm-specific human capital are less rewarding because of the foreign worker's limited or uncertain stay. Therefore, fewer...

This paper describes the basic set-up of a macroeconomic model disaggregated into 4 sectors. The purpose of the model is to analyze the structural effects of immigration policy. In a first section, the working of the model is illustrated by computing multipliers for various exogenous changes. In...

Regional disparities in the unemployment represent for Switzerland a new regional problem. The average unemployment rate has tendentially increased in the last twenty years. In the last two years we can observe a remarkable growth in the number of unemployed. On the other side unemployment...

This paper analyzes the behavior of a risk-averse exporting firm facing exchange rate uncertainty in the presence of forward markets. The existing literature on optimal hedging and production rules is extended by allowing for idiosyncratic risk. The paper provides an application of recent...

In this article, the effects on the Swiss economy of some measures of integration such as a reduction in barriers to trade, a ban on cartels and an increase in labor mobility between Switzerland and the European Economic Area are assessed using an applied general equilibrium model. The analysis...

This paper is a research account upon ethnic business in Switzerland. It shows a similar phenomenon in our country as the one observed in numerous others: the absolute and relative rise of the self-employed foreigners' number. Following a brief description of the structure of ethnic business in...

The new liquidity requirements replaced a system characterized by several disadvantages. In public discussions of the new system, the introduction of a lagged reserve accounting regime did not attract much attention. Under certain conditions, a system with lagged reserve requirements may be...

This paper addresses the relationship between aggregate dividend payments and maiket capitalization as related to the firm's dividend decision. Most previous work concentrates on the US; we extend these studies to the different institutional framework represented by West Germany, France, the UK,...