The Swiss “job miracle”

"While Switzerland’s recent growth of employment was high in historical and international perspective, the reasons for this “job miracle” were not well understood. As the “miracle” was not anticipated by economic forecasters, it consequently resulted in systematic and persistent forecast errors...

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Main Authors: KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich, Siegenthaler, Michael, Graff, Michael, Mannino, Massimo
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: Zürich 2014
KOF
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19115803124919330859-The-Swiss-“job-miracle”.htm
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author KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich
Siegenthaler, Michael
Graff, Michael
Mannino, Massimo
author_facet KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich
Siegenthaler, Michael
Graff, Michael
Mannino, Massimo
collection Library items
description "While Switzerland’s recent growth of employment was high in historical and international perspective, the reasons for this “job miracle” were not well understood. As the “miracle” was not anticipated by economic forecasters, it consequently resulted in systematic and persistent forecast errors. This paper shows that the “miracle” is related to a substantial increase in the labor intensity of economic activity. To this end, we present a number of stylized facts reflecting shifts and structural changes that affected the Swiss economy around 2000. Then, we discuss potential drivers of the “miracle” which are consistent with these facts. Finally, we demonstrate how they contribute to understand why, during the last ten years, forecasters systematically underestimated the growth of domestic employment. Finally, we highlight that immigration was not only a consequence of the “miracle”, but also an important cause, as it created additional jobs in Switzerland by raising local demand for goods and, most importantly, services."
format TEXT
geographic Switzerland
id 19115803124919330859_37ea90536f024737830c0d40f50a6ac7
institution ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
is_hierarchy_id 19115803124919330859_37ea90536f024737830c0d40f50a6ac7
is_hierarchy_title The Swiss “job miracle”
language English
physical 36 p.
Digital
publishDate 2014
publisher Zürich
KOF
spellingShingle KOF Swiss Economic Institute, Zurich
Siegenthaler, Michael
Graff, Michael
Mannino, Massimo
employment
labour mobility
structural change
The Swiss “job miracle”
thumbnail https://www.labourline.org/Image_prev.jpg?Archive=108759192693
title The Swiss “job miracle”
topic employment
labour mobility
structural change
url https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19115803124919330859-The-Swiss-“job-miracle”.htm