Marcel R. Savioz

Direct Democracy Matters for Economic Performance: An Empirical Investigation

Since the 1960s, the discussion whether democracy is a precondition for or a result of economic growth has not yet been finished. In this paper, a comparative institutional analysis of the relative performance of direct and representative democratic decision making in the Swiss economy is undertaken using a cross section of the twenty-six Swiss states in 1989 and panel data for the states from 1982 to 1993. The empirical results and robustness tests support the hypothesis that the stronger control of the representatives by the voters due to obligatory and optimal referenda leads to better economic performance. Copyright 1997 by WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG

The Demand for M3 and Inflation Forecasts: An Empirical Analysis for Switzerland

The Demand for M3 and Inflation Forecasts: An Empirical Analysis for Switzerland. — This paper argues that money should continue to play an important role in monetary policy even if a central bank pursues a strategy based on inflation forecasts. Within the context of an error correction model, the paper delivers empirical evidence that both the growth rate of the monetary aggregate M3 and the size of excess M3 incorporate useful information with regard to future inflation in Switzerland. This evidence strongly suggests that money should remain an important indicator for monetary policy.

Ecological Tax Reform and Involuntary Unemployment: Simulation Results for Switzerland

Using an applied general equilibrium of the Swiss economy the economic consequences of an environmental tax reform are analysed. Such a reform is followed by a substantial reduction of C02 emissions and the use of non-renewable energy (first dividend), and a reduction of involuntary unemployment. The existence of this second dividend depends, however, on the strategy followed by trade unions. These results are compared with the results of models with voluntary employment, with an energy tax rather than a C02 tax, and a model where the three most energy intensive sectors are exempted from paying the C02 tax.

Discussion of “Swiss Monetary Policy 2000–2009” by Hans Genberg and Stefan Gerlach

2010, Vol. 146 (1) 167–183 a Head of the Research Unit and Economist at the Swiss National Bank respectively. The views expressed in this comment are the authors’ personal and do not necessarily represent those of the Swiss National Bank. 1 This comment mainly relates to GG’s paper as it was presented at the conference and to newly estimated empirical results which were kindly made available to us by the authors. It was updated in line with the latest revisions to the paper. 2 For ease of exposition, we have chosen to refer to (some of) the authors’ results as (R1)–(R4). Discussion of “Swiss Monetary Policy 2000–2009” by Hans Genberg and Stefan Gerlach