Switzerland in Europe - Continuity and Change in the Swiss Political Economy

While Switzerland is well known for its specific political institutions, such as direct democracy, federalism and neutrality, or for its banking secrecy, its socio-economic institutions, which decisively contributed to its prosperity, remain relatively unexplored. This book gives the first systematic overview of Swiss political economy in comparative perspectives. Divided into four sections, the first offers an introduction to Swiss political economy, its major political institutions and Switzerland’ relationship to the EU. The remaining three sections provide case studies on different parts of the political economy and policy fields. The case studies with in part two and three focus on economic actors, major socio-economic institutions addressing corporate governance, finance, labour market, skills and training. Part four addresses social and economic policies, including welfare, liberalization and economic regulatory reforms. Switzerland in Europe also offers several insights into important literature in comparative political economy: the varieties of capitalism, small states, institutional change and patterns of democracy. This will be of interest students and scholars of comparative politics, political economy, Switzerland, small states and European Studies.

1. Introduction Christine Trampusch and André Mach Part 1: Political Economy, Political System and Relationship with the EU 2. The Swiss Political Economy in Comparative Perspective Christine Trampusch and André Mach 3. The Swiss Political System in a Comparative Perspective Fritz Sager and Christine Zollinger 4. Europe and Switzerland Wolf Linder Part 2: Economic Actors 5. Organized Capital and Coordinated Market Economy Pierre Eichenberger and André Mach 6. Swiss Trade Unions and Industrial Relations after 1990 Daniel Oesch Part3: Major Socio-Economic Institutions 7. Swiss Corporate Governance Gerhard Schnyder and Frédéric Widmer 8. Ever More Liberal? The Regulation of Job Security and Working Time in Switzerland Patrick Emmenegger 9. Continuity and Change in the Swiss Vocational Training System Christine Trampusch and Linda Rohrer Part 4: Economic and Social Policies 10. A Prematurely Announced Death? Swiss Corporatism in Comparative Perspective Klaus Armingeon 11. Swiss Welfare Reforms in a Comparative European Perspective Giuliano Bonoli and Silja Häusermann 12. The More It Changes, the More It Stays the Same? Swiss Liberalization and Regulatory Policies in Comparative Perspective Martino Maggetti, Alexandre Afonso and Marie-Christine Fontana 13. How much, and in what ways is Switzerland changing? Yannis Papadopoulos