We study currency risk management in the context of scenario analysis. We develop scenario-based optimization models that jointly determine the portfolio composition and the hedging strategy within each currency. Thus the model prescribes optimal selective hedging policies. We then study...

In this paper, we present a new approach to measuring interest rate risk within the Swiss Solvency Test, which overcomes the shortcomings of the standard model. The standard model of the Swiss Solvency Test is based on more interest rate risk factors than are actually needed to capture interest...

Does after-school care provision promote mothers' employment and balance the allocation of paid work among parents of schoolchildren? We address this question by exploiting variation in cantonal (state) regulations of after-school care provision in Switzerland. To establish exogeneity of...

Surprisingly, very little attention has been given in Canada to the ways other federalist countries manage programs similar to Canada's equalization program. Federalism and Fiscal Transfers is a series of essays by regional experts examining the experience of four other federalist countries --...

We investigate the political determinants of risk premiums which sub-national governments in Switzerland have to pay for their sovereign bond emissions. For this purpose we analyze financial market data from 288 tradable cantonal bonds in the period from 1981 to 2007. Our main focus is on two...

In recent years, the locus of trade appears to have shifted from the multilateral stage to the bilateral and plurilateral levels. This article focuses on the integration of human rights in bilateral and plurilateral free trade agreements as a complementary strategy to achieving a coherent...

For the case of Switzerland, this paper endeavors to estimate the empirical extent to which exchange rates are "passed-through" onto import prices. For data covering the 1999 to 2010 period, the results suggest that (i) on aggregate, the exchange rate pass-through is highly incomplete with an...

The paper shows that currencies of countries with persistent current account surpluses and high foreign-currency denominated assets, such as the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen, are under persistent appreciation pressure, particularly when the centres of the world monetary system follow...

We show that the FX impact of monetary policy has been growing significantly. We use a high-frequency event study of the joint response of fixed income instruments and exchange rates to monetary policy news from seven major central banks spanning 2004-2015. News affecting short maturity bonds...

On November 12, 2014, the Swiss government notified the International Labour Organization (ILO) of its ratification of Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. In joining, Switzerland proclaimed that its laws were in conformity with Convention No. 189. Ratification, it was argued,...