Swiss Municipalities Research Articles

Autonomous vehicles: The next jump in accessibilities?

Autonomous vehicles are expected to offer a higher comfort of traveling at lower prices and at the same time to increase road capacity - a pattern recalling the rise of the private car and later of motorway construction. Using the Swiss national transport model, this research simulates the impact of autonomous vehicles on accessibility of the Swiss municipalities. The results show that autonomous vehicles could cause another quantum leap in accessibility. Moreover, the spatial distribution of the accessibility impacts implies that autonomous vehicles favor urban sprawl and may render public transport superfluous except for dense urban areas.

Catalyst or Crown: Does Naturalization Promote the Long-Term Social Integration of Immigrants?

We study the impact of naturalization on the long-term social integration of immigrants into the host country society. Despite ongoing debates about citizenship policy, we lack reliable evidence that isolates the causal effect of naturalization from the nonrandom selection into naturalization. We exploit the quasi-random assignment of citizenship in Swiss municipalities that used referendums to decide on naturalization applications of immigrants. Comparing otherwise similar immigrants who narrowly won or lost their naturalization referendums, we find that receiving Swiss citizenship strongly improved long-term social integration. We also find that the integration returns to naturalization are larger for more marginalized immigrant groups and when naturalization occurs earlier, rather than later in the residency period. Overall, our findings support the policy paradigm arguing that naturalization is a catalyst for improving the social integration of immigrants rather than merely the crown on the completed integration process.

Associational Landscapes Increase Social Trust Only of Nonmembers

Being at the center of social capital, voluntary associations are generally thought to play a crucial role for the functioning of civil society and democracy. Several studies, however, cast doubt on the contention that associations are the foundation of generalized trust. Our study goes beyond previous analyses: first by aggregating aspects of associations to associational landscapes, second by taking non-members into account. We argue associational landscapes matter particularly for non-members: Their social trust is either diminished since associations serve as what Fukuyama calls 'rent-seeking' tool for their members only; or non-members benefit from what Putnam calls 'rainmaking effect' of vibrant associational landscapes. To test both arguments empirically, we present a unique data set combining a survey among voluntary associations in 57 Swiss municipalities with a previously conducted population survey of their residents. Results of multilevel models give clear support to the rainmaker hypothesis. These findings bridge a significant research gap and contribute to our understanding of the foundations of social capital.

Modelling economic losses of historic and present-day high-impact winter windstorms in Switzerland

This study investigates the wind gusts and associated economic loss patterns of high-impact winter windstorms in Switzerland between 1871 and 2011. A novel approach for simulating windstorm-related gusts and losses at regional to local scales is applied to a sample of 84 windstorms. The approach involves the dynamical downscaling of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) ensemble mean to 3-km horizontal grid size using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Economic losses are simulated at municipal level for present-day asset distribution based on the downscaled (parameterised) wind gusts at high spatiotemporal resolution using the open-source impact model climada. A comparison with insurance loss data for two recent windstorms (“Lothar” in 1999, “Joachim” in 2011) indicates that the loss simulation allows to realistically simulate the spatial patterns of windstorm losses. The loss amplitude is strongly underestimated for ‘Lothar’, while it is in reasonable agreement for ‘Joachim’. Possible reasons are discussed. Uncertainties concerning the loss simulation arise from the wind gust estimation method applied; estimates can differ considerably among the different methods, in particular over high orography. Furthermore, the quality of the loss simulation is affected by the underlying simplified assumptions regarding the distribution of assets and their susceptibilities to damage. For the whole windstorm sample, composite averages of simulated wind gust speed and loss are computed. Both composites reveal high values for the densely populated Swiss Plateau and lower values for south-eastern Switzerland; metropolitan areas stand out in the loss composite. Eight of the top 10 events concerning the losses simulated for present-day asset distribution and summed over all Swiss municipalities occurred after 1950. It remains uncertain whether this is due to decadal-scale changes of winter windstorms in Switzerland or merely due to a possible bias of the 20CR ensemble mean towards lower wind speeds in the period before around 1950.

The socio-economic determinants of urban sprawl between 1980 and 2010 in Switzerland

Sprawl, as a particular characterisation of spatial extension of urbanised areas, is a contested issue. In this paper we provide an analysis of the major socio-economic determinants of changes in those urban patterns considered as sprawl in Switzerland. Our analysis covers the years 1980–2010, and has been conducted for all of the 2495 Swiss municipalities. The spatially explicit model gives evidence of the importance of spillover effects. Employing regression modelling of different urban sprawl metrics that capture urban development patterns we show that the socio-economic explanatory variables yield different results in explaining those metrics and thus give insights in the highly complex matter that is sprawl. These metrics which include the extent of built-up areas, dispersion of settlements and utilisation density provide a composite metric for urban sprawl. Our results show that the densification of built-up areas gains increasing influence in shaping urban patterns and that, in Switzerland, accessibility is a key determinant of sprawl.

The regional impact of a CO2 tax on gasoline demand: A spatial econometric approach

In order to reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate climate change, several countries around the world have introduced a CO2 tax on energy consumption. Switzerland has already introduced a CO2 tax on gas and heating oil and is considering introducing a CO2 tax on gasoline and diesel as well. The effectiveness of such a tax depends on the level of the short- and long-run price elasticity. Moreover, acceptance of a CO2 tax by a society depends on both the distributional effects of such a tax among households and its spatial effects among regions. In this paper, the regional impact of a hypothetical CO2 tax on gasoline consumption in Switzerland is analysed by estimating a demand function for gasoline using panel data from 547 Swiss municipalities from 2001 to 2008. Gasoline sales were collected from the five largest gasoline companies operating in Switzerland, covering about 60% of overall sales. Swiss municipalities are relatively small units, and car ownership and use in one municipality is thought to influence gasoline sales in the neighbouring ones. Accordingly, the method used in the model also accounts for spatial correlation in the consumption of gasoline. Overall, our spatial econometric analysis shows that the tax burden of a CO2 tax will be higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

Model-based screening for critical wet-weather discharges related to micropollutants from urban areas

Wet-weather discharges contribute to anthropogenic micropollutant loads entering the aquatic environment. Thousands of wet-weather discharges exist in Swiss sewer systems, and we do not have the capacity to monitor them all. We consequently propose a model-based approach designed to identify critical discharge points in order to support effective monitoring.We applied a dynamic substance flow model to four substances representing different entry routes: indoor (Triclosan, Mecoprop, Copper) as well as rainfall-mobilized (Glyphosate, Mecoprop, Copper) inputs. The accumulation on different urban land-use surfaces in dry weather and subsequent substance-specific wash-off is taken into account. For evaluation, we use a conservative screening approach to detect critical discharge points. This approach considers only local dilution generated onsite from natural, unpolluted areas, i.e. excluding upstream dilution.Despite our conservative assumptions, we find that the environmental quality standards for Glyphosate and Mecoprop are not exceeded during any 10-min time interval over a representative one-year simulation period for all 2500 Swiss municipalities. In contrast, the environmental quality standard is exceeded during at least 20% of the discharge time at 83% of all modelled discharge points for Copper and at 71% for Triclosan. For Copper, this corresponds to a total median duration of approximately 19 days per year. For Triclosan, discharged only via combined sewer overflows, this means a median duration of approximately 10 days per year. In general, stormwater outlets contribute more to the calculated effect than combined sewer overflows for rainfall-mobilized substances. We further evaluate the Urban Index (Aurban,impervious/Anatural) as a proxy for critical discharge points: catchments where Triclosan and Copper exceed the corresponding environmental quality standard often have an Urban Index >0.03.A dynamic substance flow analysis allows us to identify the most critical discharge points to be prioritized for more detailed analyses and monitoring. This forms a basis for the efficient mitigation of pollution.

Temporal association between childhood leukaemia and population growth in Swiss municipalities.

The population mixing hypothesis proposes that childhood leukaemia (CL) might be a rare complication of a yet unidentified subclinical infection. Large population influxes into previously isolated rural areas may foster localised epidemics of the postulated infection causing a subsequent increase of CL. While marked population growth after a period of stability was central to the formulation of the hypothesis and to the early studies on population mixing, there is a lack of objective criteria to define such growth patterns. We aimed to determine whether periods of marked population growth coincided with increases in the risk of CL in Swiss municipalities. We identified incident cases of CL aged 0-15years for the period 1985-2010 from the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry. Annual data on population counts in Swiss municipalities were obtained for 1980-2010. As exposures, we defined (1) cumulative population growth during a 5-year moving time window centred on each year (1985-2010) and (2) periods of 'take-off growth' identified by segmented linear regression. We compared CL incidence across exposure categories using Poisson regression and tested for effect modification by degree of urbanisation. Our study included 1500 incident cases and 2561 municipalities. The incident rate ratio (IRR) comparing the highest to the lowest quintile of 5-year population growth was 1.18 (95% CI 0.96, 1.46) in all municipalities and 1.33 (95% CI 0.93, 1.92) in rural municipalities (p value interaction 0.36). In municipalities with take-off growth, the IRR comparing the take-off period (>6% annual population growth) with the initial period of low or negative growth (<2%) was 2.07 (95% CI 0.95, 4.51) overall and 2.99 (1.11, 8.05) in rural areas (p interaction 0.52). Our study provides further support for the population mixing hypothesis and underlines the need to distinguish take-off growth from other growth patterns in future research.

Effects of amalgamations: evidence from Swiss municipalities

ABSTRACTMany OECD countries have amalgamated their municipalities during the last couple of decades. For decisions concerning future territorial rescaling, it is crucial to augment the previously inconclusive evaluative knowledge of the effects of mergers. This paper examines the effects of amalgamations conducted between 1998 and 2009 in the areas of public service delivery, local finance, administrative staff, municipal autonomy and local democracy. The data are obtained from two comprehensive surveys of all local secretaries (top civil servants) in Switzerland in 1998 and 2009. The analysis – based upon a comparison between a quasi-experimental and a control group – (partially) supports the hypothesis of a positive effect on public service delivery, the professionalization of staff and municipal autonomy. The effect on local finance is inconclusive, and negative effects on local democracy are not discovered in the framework of this study.

Administrative Reforms in Swiss Municipalities over the Last Twenty Years – The end of New Public Management?

There has been much talk about the end the NPM in recent years. Our comprehensive monitoring of Swiss municipalities, however, reveals that a lot of municipalities have continued to reform their political and administrative system along the ideas of NPM. It is the reform discourse that has changed. They stopped referring to them as NPM. Some of the core elements of NPM related to new forms of political steering, however, proved to be less popular. The reforms can therefore be termed as “NPM light”. When it comes to explaining the spread of the different reform activities within the country, we find evidence for the historical and sociological neo-institutionalism. There are considerable differences between language areas and between smaller and larger municipalities. Party preferences of local executives and of the citizens do not matter. The results shed new light on the debate about the assumed failure of NPM reforms.

The impact of associational life on trust in local institutions: a comparison of 57 Swiss municipalities

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we evaluate the impact of associational life on individual political trust in 57 Swiss municipalities. Our hierarchical regression models show that individual political trust is not only affected by individual associational membership but also by the exchange between associations and local political authorities in a community. In other words, if political authorities and associations are linked at the community level, citizens will place more trust in their local institutions. Furthermore, we find clear evidence for the rainmaker hypothesis: our results show that the positive effect of a vibrant connection between associational life and local politics on political trust is not solely confined to the associational members themselves, but rather indicate that the structure of the local civic culture fosters political trust among members and non-members at the same time. However, the internal democratic processes of associations have no effect on individuals’ trust in local political institutions.

Catalyst or Crown: Does Naturalization Promote the Long-Term Social Integration of Immigrants?

We study the impact of naturalization on the long-term social integration of immigrants into the host country society. Despite ongoing debates about citizenship policy, we lack reliable evidence that isolates the causal effect of naturalization from the non-random selection into naturalization. We exploit the quasi-random assignment of citizenship in Swiss municipalities that used referendums to decide on naturalization applications of immigrants. Comparing otherwise similar immigrants who narrowly won or narrowly lost their naturalization referendums, we find that receiving Swiss citizenship strongly improved long-term social integration. We also find that the integration returns to naturalization are much larger for more marginalized immigrant groups and somewhat larger when naturalization occurs earlier, rather than later in the residency period. Overall, our findings support the policy paradigm arguing that naturalization is a catalyst for improving the social integration of immigrants rather than merely the crown on the completed integration process.

More diversity, less tolerance? The effect of type of cultural diversity on the erosion of tolerance in Swiss municipalities

Immigration and the ways in which host societies receive newcomers pose challenges for modern civil societies. This article contributes to the ongoing discussion about how ethnic diversity influences tolerance towards immigrants. Compared to previous studies, we analyse tolerance as a sequential concept in order to uncover the effects of contextual diversity on attitudes towards immigrants and the granting of certain rights to this group. Moreover, we distinguish different shares of ethnic groups based on their ethnic and cultural origins both on the independent and dependent variable. The analysis relies on a subnational survey of sixty municipalities in Switzerland, revealing that only certain ethnic groups are seen as an economic and cultural threat.

Managing the crises – how did local governments react to the financial crisis in 2008 and what explains the differences? The case of Swiss municipalities

Swiss municipalities are, to a large extent, responsible for their financial resources. Since these resources primarily depend on income and property taxes from individuals and enterprises, municipality budgets are likely to be directly affected by the current crisis in the financial sector and the economy. This article investigates how municipalities perceived this threat and how they reacted to it. In a nationwide survey conducted at the end of 2009 in all 2596 Swiss municipalities, we asked local secretaries which measures had been launched in order to cope with expected losses in tax income and a possible increase in welfare spending. Did the municipalities rely on Keynesian measures increasing public spending and accepting greater deficits, or did they try to avoid further deficits by using austerity measures and a withdrawal of planned investments? Our results show that only a few municipalities – mainly the bigger ones – expected to be greatly affected by the crisis. Their reactions, however, did not reveal any clear patterns that theory would lead one to expect. Preferences for austerity measures and deficit spending become visible but many municipalities took measures from both theories. The strongest explanatory factors for determining how/why municipalities react are: the municipality’s level of affectedness followed by whether or not the municipality belongs to the French-speaking part of the country. Size also has an impact, whereas the strength of the Social Democrat party is negligible. Explaining what kind of measures municipalities are likely to take is more difficult. However, the more a municipality is affected, the more likely it is to stick to austerity measures. Points for practitioners How to react to a financial crisis is not only a challenging question to answer for the scientific community but also for practitioners being confronted with the crucial decisions to be taken. This contribution shows that the theoretical debates stipulating the exclusiveness of deficit spending or austerity measures is hardly reflecting reality, at least not at the local level. Policymakers are well advised to cut down expenditure and to invest where necessary. This is, at least, what can be learned from the practices of the Swiss municipalities after the 2008 crisis.

The influence of role models on immigrant self-employment: a spatial analysis for Switzerland

Purpose – Theoretical and empirical research suggests a connection between the presence of role models and the emergence of entrepreneurs. Existing entrepreneurs may act as role models for self-employment candidates by providing successful examples. The purpose of this paper is to show that role models matter in aggregate decision outcomes regarding self-employment. Design/methodology/approach – By explicitly considering the self-employment rates of the natives, which may influence locally the decisions of immigrants towards entrepreneurship, the authors develop a simple model that explains immigrant self-employment rates for a sample of 2,490 Swiss municipalities. In addition, the authors accommodate for the presence of spatial spillovers in the distribution of rates, and test a spatial autoregressive model which takes into account the average self-employment rates of immigrants living in nearby municipalities. Findings – The evidence shows a significant (positive) effect of such spatial network effects,...

The effect of agglomeration size on local taxes

Standard tax competition models predict a ‘race-to-the-bottom’ of corporate tax rates when firms are mobile. Recent theoretical literature shows that central regions with large clusters of economic activity are able to set positive tax rates without fear of losing firms to peripheral regions as the firms would forego ‘rents’ from agglomeration economies. We study whether local policy makers effectively tax such agglomeration rents. We test this with data from Swiss municipalities. We find that municipalities in large urban areas indeed set higher tax rates than those in small ones. Within urban areas, however, municipal tax rates are unrelated to the size of economic activity in and around municipalities while they are positively related to the size of the political jurisdiction. We see this result as evidence that the standard tax competition model for asymmetric jurisdictions is at work in the competition of municipalities within an urban area.

Actors, Decisions and Policy Changes in Local Urbanization

ABSTRACTLand-use policies have long been recognized as important driving forces of urbanization, but little research has been conducted on the interrelationship of actors, policy decision processes and changes in the built environment. In this paper, we use the advocacy coalition framework to analyse policy decisions that affected the development of the built environment in three Swiss municipalities between 1970 and 2007. We found that all three municipalities experienced the same major policy changes, namely a new definition of the role of urban management (1970s); the adoption of an environment- and problem-oriented approach in land-use planning (1980s) as well as an increased emphasis on public participation and intra-municipal coordination (1990s). Although national laws and actors have shaped the crucial driving forces of urban change, local actors, their coalitions and the local distribution of resources crucially determined these decisions in the study period. Our findings suggest that a stronger focus on local actors, their coalitions and resources could greatly improve our understanding of spatial development processes in Switzerland. For instance, as land ownership turned out to be a crucial resource, Swiss municipalities could benefit from engaging more actively in the land market.

Volunteer Organizations: Odds or Obstacle for Small Business Formation in Rural Areas? Evidence from Swiss Municipalities

Schulz T. and Baumgartner D. Volunteer organizations: odds or obstacle for small business formation in rural areas? Evidence from Swiss municipalities, Regional Studies. Rural development strategies often claim to stimulate new firm foundations, for example, by supporting locally active volunteer organizations for economic development. Based on survey data from 254 rural Swiss municipalities, this paper analyses the influence of different types of volunteer organizations on new firm foundations by applying a zero-inflated Poisson regression approach. The results suggest that, generally, a higher number of volunteer organizations positively influence the foundation of local firms. Too many ‘bonding’ associations for economic development, however, lead to decreasing foundations. Exclusive support of organizations for economic development is thus not effective for stimulating new firm foundations in rural areas. Schulz T. and Baumgartner D. 自愿者组织：农村小型商业机会抑或阻碍？来自瑞士大都市区的相关证据，区域研究。农村发展策略通常宣称要促进新公司建立，比如说，通过支持地方志愿者组织来促进经济发展。基于对 254 个农村政府进行的问卷调研数据，本文通过零膨胀泊松回归法分析了不同类型的志愿者组织对于新公司创立的影响。结果表明，总体而言志愿者组织对于地方公司成立的影响是积极的。对于经济发展过多关联则会导致减少公司创立。志愿者组织对于经济发展的排他性支持就农村地区鼓励新公司的建立而言效果并不明显。 公司 小商业基础 非核心区域 瑞士 公众参与 志愿组织 社会资本 Schulz T. et Baumgartner D. Les organisations bénévoles: des atouts ou des inconvénients pour la création des petites entreprises en zone rurale? Des preuves provenant des municipalités suisses, Regional Studies. La politique d'aménagement du territoire en faveur des zones rurales prétend souvent encourager la création d'entreprise, par exemple, en soutenant des organisations bénévoles pour le développement économique qui jouent un rôle actif sur le plan local. Puisant dans des enquêtes auprès de 254 municipalités rurales suisses, cet article cherche à analyser l'influence de divers genres d'organisations bénévoles sur la création de nouvelles entreprises en appliquant une régression du type Poisson d'ordre zéro. En règle générale, les résultats laissent supposer qu'un nombre non-négligeable d'organisations bénévoles influent de façon positive sur la création d'entreprises locales. Cependant, trop d'organisations ‘affectives’ pour le développement économique entraînent une baisse du nombre d’établissements. Il s'avère, donc, que le soutien exclusif en faveur des organisations pour le développement économique ne réussit pas à encourager la création de nouvelles entreprises en zone rurale. Esprit d'entreprise Création de petites entreprises Régions périphériques Suisse Engagement municipal Organisations bénévoles Capital social Schulz T. und Baumgartner D. Freiwilligenorganisationen: Chance oder Hindernis für Unternehmensgründungen im ländlichen Raum? Evidenz aus Schweizer Gemeinden, Regional Studies. Ländliche Entwicklungsstrategien zielen oft darauf ab, Unternehmensgründungen zu fördern, beispielsweise durch die Unterstützung lokaler, auf die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung gerichteter Organisationen. Basierend auf Umfragedaten aus 254 ländlichen Schweizer Gemeinden untersucht dieser Beitrag den Einfluss verschiedener Typen von Freiwilligenorganisationen auf Unternehmensgründungen mittels einer ‘zero-inflated’ Poisson-Regression. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass eine höhere Zahl von Freiwilligenorganisationen die Anzahl der Unternehmensgründungen generell positiv beeinflusst. Allerdings führt eine zu hohe Zahl ‘abgrenzender’ und auf die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung fokussierter Organisationen zu weniger Unternehmensgründungen. Die ausschliessliche Förderung von Organisationen für wirtschaftliche Entwicklung ist daher zur Unterstützung von Unternehmensgründungen im ländlichen Raum nicht effektiv. Unternehmertum Unternehmensgründungen Nichtkernregionen Schweiz Bürgerbeteiligung Freiwilligenorganisation Sozialkapital Schulz T. y Baumgartner D. Organizaciones de voluntarios: ¿oportunidades u obstáculos para la creación de pequeños negocios en áreas rurales? Ejemplos de municipios de Suiza, Regional Studies. Las estrategias del desarrollo rural pretenden muchas veces estimular la formación de nuevas empresas, por ejemplo, apoyando a organizaciones de voluntarios localmente activas para el desarrollo económico. Basándonos en los datos recabados en estudios sobre 254 municipios suizos de áreas rurales, en este artículo analizamos cómo influyen los diferentes tipos de organizaciones de voluntarios en la formación de nuevas empresas al aplicar el modelo de regresión de Poisson con ceros aumentados. Los resultados indican que, en general, el hecho de que exista un mayor número de organizaciones de voluntarios influye positivamente en la formación de empresas locales. Sin embargo, un número demasiado alto de asociaciones delimitadas para el desarrollo económico conduce a una disminución en la creación de empresas. Por consiguiente, el apoyo exclusivo de las organizaciones para el desarrollo económico no es eficaz para estimular la formación de nuevas empresas en áreas rurales. Empresariado Creación de pequeños negocios Regiones no centrales Suiza Compromiso cívico Organización de voluntarios Capital social

IMMIGRATION AND LARGE BANKNOTES

Do immigrants have a higher demand for large-denominated banknotes than natives? This micro study examines whether banknote orders for CHF 1,000 notes are concentrated in Swiss municipalities with a high foreign-to-native ratio. The evidence for 251 Swiss municipalities finds that immigrants hoard fewer CHF 1,000 banknotes than natives. This empirical result means that immigration reduces seigniorage (per person) as measured by banknote orders. A 1% increase in the immigrant-to-native ratio is coincident with a reduction in banknote orders by CHF 4,000. This reduction is attributed to specific traits linked to immigrants.

Explaining the Reactions of Swiss Municipalities to The ‘Amalgamation Wave’: At the crossroad of institutional, economic and political pressures

Public sector organizations are simultaneously subject to three types of environmental pressure: institutional, economic and political. How do these pressures influence the strategic behaviour of public organizations when confronted with efficiency-oriented reforms? We focus on the strategic behaviour of Swiss municipalities facing the amalgamation wave: a reform characterized by a strong economic rationale. Results confirm that the success of reforms depends not only on its matching with economic underpinnings. It is also necessary to take the political leadership and the responsibility of reform implementation.