When we make decisions for others, we assume that they have the same preferences as we do. And if they don't, we’ll impose our preferences on them. Research by UBS Foundation Professor Sandro Ambühl shows that this assumption and paternalistic interventions based on ideals lead to suboptimal results.

Die Schweizer Sozialsysteme stehen vor grossen Herausforderungen: eine alternde Gesellschaft, steigende Gesundheits- und Pflegekosten, tiefe Zinsen für die Altersvorsorge, sowie Fehlanreize im Gesundheitsweisen und zur Frühpensionierung. Wachsende Ansprüche stehen Fragen der Machbarkeit gegenüber. Wo sind die Grenzen des Wohlfahrtsstaates? Und welche Prioritäten sind zu setzen, um die Zukunftsfähigkeit der Sozialsysteme gewährleisten zu können?

The “Roaring Twenties” were an epic era, molded by optimism and excess. The First World War was over, as was the Spanish flu. And now, one hundred year later, we are again fighting a pandemic. Are there parallels? Nicoletta Cimmino spoke with Joachim Voth, Professor of Economics.

Aktuelle Studien zeigen, die Pandemie hat die wirtschaftliche Ungleichheit in der Schweiz ausgeweitet. Wie lässt es sich erklären, dass die Reichen immer reicher werden und selbst in einer globalen Krise Rekordgewinne einfahren können? UBS Foundation Professor Florian Scheuer beantwortet diese Frage im Gespräch mit dem SRF Wirtschaftsmagazin ECO.

Keep the germs away, wash your hands. The coronavirus pandemic has reminded us that hand washing protects against the spread of infectious diseases. The disgust we feel when someone does not wash their hands after going to the toilet has an important function. But, while being a powerful biological response that has preserved our species for millennia, disgust turns out to be a double-edged sword. As a recent episode of Freakonomics Radio shows, it may be keeping us from pursuing strategies that would improve the environment or the economy.

Das Coronavirus und Covid-19 beschäftigen die Welt. Aktuell beteiligen sich Forschende des Departments in nationalen und internationalen Medien an der öffentlichen Analyse und Diskussion. Neben den Beiträgen aus ihren jeweiligen Spezialgebieten haben die Professorinnen und Professoren des Department of Economics ein gemeinsames Positionspapier veröffentlicht. Dieses fasst den Konsens der ökonomischen Debatte zusammen und zeigt Handlungsoptionen für die Schweiz auf.

Über Unternehmenskultur zu sprechen, ist in der Geschäftswelt ziemlich populär geworden. Aber warum sollten sich Unternehmen überhaupt für die Unternehmenskultur interessieren? Warum sind «weiche» Konzepte wie Kultur wichtig? Können sich Unternehmen nicht einfach auf «harte» Fakten verlassen – den Wert klarer und effizienter institutioneller Regeln und Anreize? In diesem Public Paper legen wir dar, dass Unternehmenskultur wichtig ist, weil menschliches Verhalten immer von den vorherrschenden gesellschaftlichen Normen mitbestimmt wird.

Just before the end of the year, we would like to put a spotlight on our world of research with you. The topics are current issues that have preoccupied us throughout the year: Inequality, taxes, climate change and the Corona crisis. What measures are needed to address these issues? Do we need rules and bans or is an appeal to personal responsibility enough? You will find answers to these questions in the works and assessments of our researchers and other experts.

The UBS Center welcomes two outstanding young talents as this year’s UBS Center Scholarship holders. They were selected from several hundred applicants to the Zurich Graduate School of Economics (Zurich GSE). We asked the freshman doctoral students about their motivation to obtain their degree in Zurich.

NZZ Interview | Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton speaks of "death out of despair": In the USA, the mortality of non-academics has risen sharply. Deaton diagnoses a deep divide between people with good and poor education.

Special times call for special measures. That is why our annual forum this year took place online. Despite the change in format, we have sought to maintain our customary standards. We had a series of events in store, focusing on different aspects of inequality – a topic that has become even more important in light of the global pandemic and its devastating consequences, which has hit many of the most vulnerable people in the world particularly hard.

US Elections 2020 | The economic decline of some regions has deepened the ideological divide.
A commentary by David Dorn.

While differences in income and wealth can be justified, low social mobility seems difficult to accept in meritocratic societies. A commentary by Joachim Voth.

Dr. Matthias Ammann joined the UBS Center as COO in September 2020. Prior to that, he was a Fellow at Avenir Suisse from 2017 to 2020, where he focused on education policy and on the potential of digitization for government and administration. He completed his doctorate at the University of St. Gallen after his studies in International Affairs and Governance as well as International Management at the University of St. Gallen and the Copenhagen Business School.

The UBS Center for Economics in Society (UBS Center) was established as an Associate Institute at the University of Zurich (UZH) to build a bridge between science and society. From the very beginning, the Center's credo was "Economics for Society". This was made possible thanks to a donation of CHF 100 million from UBS on the occasion of its 150-year anniversary. UBS has now decided to extend its engagement for an additional 10 years with a new donation of approximately 25 million Swiss francs, enabling the UBS Center to build on its past achievements.

Als 2012 das das UBS Center for Economics in Society (UBS Center) an der Universität Zürich (UZH) gegründet wurde, geschah dies mit dem Ziel, eine Brücke zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft zu schlagen. Von Beginn an lautete daher das Credo des Centers «Economics for Society». Möglich machte dies damals eine 100-Millionen-Spende von UBS anlässlich ihres 150-jährigen Jubiläums. Nun hat UBS entschieden, ihr Engagement mit einer neuen Finanzierung von rund 25 Millionen Schweizer Franken um weitere zehn Jahre zu verlängern, um das bisher Erreichte weiterzuführen.

No other topic shows the interrelation of our own environment with global developments as clearly as climate change. Economists of all disciplines agree that climate change is having unprecedented effects on economic and social development and should be one of our top priorities. We spoke with David Hémous on the challenges facing economists and politicians to find answers to the climate change – and fast.

In a fast moving world, there is little time for classification and reflection. However, anyone who really wants to understand something needs context. Joachim Voth's research assumes this task and places social phenomena in their cultural and historical contexts. He applies economic tools, and he likes to refute established theses with his results.

Alberto Alesina, Nathan Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the UBS Center for Economics in Society, died suddenly on May 23, 2020 while hiking.

The challenge to address Covid-19 related urgent health needs and to protect citizens from deep economic distress vary substantially across countries worldwide. In low-and middle-income countries resources and infrastructure are lacking as to implement appropriate measures. This can lead to very negative long-term effects, for example maintaining other health programs such as vaccines for children. Dina Pomeranz offers her analysis and issues a wake-up call to the global community.

Das Coronavirus hat die Welt im Griff. Die Massnahmen zur Eindämmung des Virus haben bereits jetzt eine globale Wirtschaftskrise erheblichen Ausmasses hervorgerufen. Ziel dieses Positionspapiers ist es, die Sicht des Department of Economics auf den Konsens zu beschreiben, der sich in der ökonomischen Disziplin nach intensiven Debatten über den Umgang mit der Krise abzeichnet, und herauszuarbeiten, was dies unserer Meinung nach für die Schweiz bedeutet.

The coronavirus has the world in its grip. It is certain that the measures to contain the virus have already caused a major global economic crisis. The aim of this policy paper is to lay out the Department of Economics' view of the consensus that is emerging in the economics profession after thourough debates on how to deal with the crisis. And to work out what we think this means for Switzerland.

The world stands still while the shockwaves of the corona virus reverberate around the world. Far-reaching economic consequences are difficult to assess. Will some of us be better off than others once we turn back to business as usual? Are we seeing a radical shift in the digitalization of work? Can Western democracies really deal with a challenge of this magnitude? Joachim Voth has studied the economic consequences of plagues. We sat down with him to learn from his research.

Joachim Voth draws parallels between the current strategies to control the coronavirus and those used to combat the plague in Marseille in 1720. Back then, the rigorous mobility restriction by building plague walls proved to be the most effective solution. Today, politics must balance the costs and benefits of restricting the movement of people and goods. The free exchange of goods and capital does not have to be restricted; only very few diseases are transmitted by contaminated goods. The free movement of people itself also contributes to the advantages of globalisation, but it is far less important for production. Voth argues that the lesson from Wuhan should be that we start a broad discussion about how much mobility is actually desirable.

Last February, José Vila-Belda gave a nanoTalk at the University of Zurich explaining the key contributions for which professors Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer were awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019. By breaking down big open questions into smaller but rigorous and policy-relevant scientific tests and leveraging the power of field experiments, Duflo and her colleagues have revolutionized the study of the causes of poverty and the policies that can effectively reduce it.

We are pleased to introduce the 2019 class of our scholarship holders. Five talented young scholars have been selected among the top-applicants for the Zurich Graduate School of Economics. They come from all over the world and will be affiliated with the UBS Center during their doctoral studies at the University of Zurich.

When asked about what inspires her as an economist, Ekaterina Zhuravskaya has a few different answers. First, it’s purely academic, she’s trying to solve some of the puzzles that she sees within the political economy. The second comes from the policy failures she sees in democracies, autocratic states and dictatorships and getting to the roots of these. And the third is bringing up a new generation of scholars and economists, watching her students grow and transition in bright young academics.

We followed up on the "Women in Economics" initiative by UBS and CEPR and organized a breakfast talk with Marianne Bertrand, Raquel Fernandez, and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya for young female economists at the University of Zurich’s Graduate School of Economics.

Taxes are the price we pay for living in a safe and organized country; tax competition ensures that this price remains fair. With this statement, former Swiss Finance Minister Kaspar Villiger openend the sixth edition of our “Wirtschaftspodium” in Zurich.

The newly established policy brief series conveys main research insights to politicians, policy makers, and the broader public. The policy briefs are nontechnical summaries of research findings that address today’s key challenges, and they come with policy suggestions derived from the research results.

A sound corporate culture drives a company’s overall performance sustainably – this is not only common sense, but also evidenced in research. Why is culture so important for economic success, and what are the characteristics of a successful corporate culture? A new paper by Ernst Fehr puts cooperation and feedback center stage.

David Hémous recently received a prestigious grant from the European Research Council, while Urša Krenk just started her doctoral studies at the Zurich Graduate School of Economics. Although they are at different stages of their academic careers, they have one thing in common: their passion for economic research.

Culture and economics are closely interlinked: a country’s economic success depends on the quality of its culture. This insight is not new, yet, it has long been ignored. It has returned, however, to the center of economists’ attention, as an event by the UBS Center showed in November.

1:0, 7:2, 11:3. No – not the latest ice hockey scores, but the ratio of male to female speakers at the UBS Center’s 2018 events. 9:1 – the professors and 8:5 – the scholarship holders at the UBS Center. 18:6 – the UBS Center Advisory Board members.

Why are our financial decisions often irrational, leading to bad choices? Behavioral economist Dan Ariely answered this question in a very entertaining and thought- provoking way.

We are excited to announce the upcoming publication series titled “UBS Center Policy Briefs.” To get some insights, we sat down with editor-in-chief Florian Scheuer.

Does bank expansion cripple growth? How does working during pregnancy affect newborn babies? How can we reduce food waste? What are the right work incentives in disability insurance? These are only a few of the questions that our senior scholarship holders address in their research projects.

Ladina Jenal is the new Chief Operating Officer of the UBS International Center of Economics in Society. Her research interests focus on risk management, internal control and corporate governance as well as economic impacts of maternity on labour markets.

New technologies, new services, new client needs – is the financial market at a historic turning point? And if so, what are the implications for Swiss finance? At this year’s UBS Center Podium economic historians and experts from the financial sector were divided on the question about the significance of today’s changes in finance.

They have dedicated themselves to reduce poverty around the globe. Esther Duflo (MIT) and Abhijit V. Banerjee (MIT) visited the University of Zurich to share the lessons they learned after publishing Poor Economics.

The new UBS Center Public Paper shows that Switzerland is a center of stability – in a good as well as in a less good sense.

'How to Deal with the Globalization Backlash?' was the question for leading thinkers and academics at the UBS Center Forum for Economic Dialogue.

Chipping away at the many misconceptions surrounding migration is just a first step toward finding viable solutions to this highly charged topic. This was one of the main insights of this year’s Wirtschaftspodium Schweiz.

Ralph Ossa was appointed to the Professorship in Economics of Globalization and Emerging Markets, endowed by the UBS Center. He joined the University of Zurich at the beginning of this year. His research focuses on international trade, economic geography, and economic development.

There is a thin line between news bias, fake news, and propaganda. Just look at the current debate about manipulation of the media in the U.S. While mass media is believed to play a powerful role in democracies, the ability of the media to perform its prescribed role as the “watchdog” has been questioned.

Seventy years after Winston Churchill gave his historic address calling for a “United States of Europe” at the University of Zurich, Nobel Laureate Professor of economics Paul Krugman stood at the same podium and delivered a provocative lecture on Europe’s future.

Whether you call it the third or the fourth industrial revolution, we are entering an era of unprecedented economic, technological and social change. But what are the forces driving this change and will humanity benefit or suffer as a result?

Economic models tend to assume that people are informed about the decisions they make, so that consumers are able to make markets work to their advantage. Robert Shiller argued that this assumption is at least partially wrong, as many competitive markets by their very nature spawn deception and trickery.

Life expectancy in Western societies increases while birth rates drop. There is a fifty-percent chance that a child born today in Switzerland will live to be 100 years old. What does this mean for the economy and for society? How can the pension system be secured?

Nobel Prize Winner Mohammed ElBaradei opened this year’s forum with a powerful and moving address. He argued the world is facing a crisis of governance and advocated for a global social contract based on inclusion and fostering solidarity.

Thanks to his recent best-selling book *This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly*, Ken Rogoff is widely regarded as one of the world’s leaders on the topic. This may explain why the main auditorium of the University of Zurich was much too small for the hundreds of people who wanted to hear what the former IMF Chief Economist had to say about the world’s current debt problems.

High debt levels and violent conflicts are two of the themes that have been dominating the headlines for months. It goes without saying that both are seen as indicators of failure or decline. But as economic historian Hans-Joachim Voth shows, this does not always hold true. On the contrary, there were times when military conflict acted as an engine for development and high debt levels spurred economic growth.

On a macroeconomic level, the wealth of nations greatly depends on investment in human capital. For Switzerland with few natural resources, the many positive effects of strong human capital are particularly important. But what kind of human capital does Switzerland need?

Leading international figures from science, business, and politics discussed why large parts of the world are still waiting for a return to stable economic growth and a reduction in unemployment and debt levels six years after the outbreak of the financial crisis.

Switzerland is doing well...too well? Is the model for success in danger? Participants in the UBS Center Swiss Forum discussed the strengths and weaknesses of Switzerland as a business location.

Forum for Economic Dialogue 2012 – a successful inauguration. Leading economists took it in turn to address the critical issues confronting the international financial system today.