Patrick Emmenegger

The Swiss Political Science Review just accepted my paper entitled “Economic Vulnerability and Political Responses to International Pressure: Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the Struggle for Banking Secrecy” (together with Katrin Eggenberger). It is part of a special issue on “Disenchanted Swiss Democracy” (editors Daniel Bochsler, Regula Hänggli and Silja Häusermann). Here is the abstract:

After doggedly opposing any increase in exchange of information on tax matters for several decades, both Liechtenstein and Switzerland have made significant concessions over recent years. However, the two countries have reacted rather differently to international pressure: while Liechtenstein has adopted a more proactive approach, offering far-reaching bilateral deals to several major economies, Switzerland has been slow to react to international pressure, despite calls for a more proactive strategy by its financial services industry. We suggest that these differences have a range of causes; in Liechtenstein, in particular, the pressure was more evenly distributed, thus allowing the financial services industry to close ranks and use its privileged access to the government to shape the government’s response decisively. By contrast, there was internal division in the Swiss financial services industry and it was soon on the back foot in public debate, eventually losing control over the issue.

I have recently published a newspaper on the politics of reform in the Swiss weekly “Finanz und Wirtschaft” (August 7). Here is a link to the article (in German).

I have discovered another book review of “The Power to Dismiss”. Here is a link to the LSE Review of Books.

It is a bit late now but I have published a (long) newspaper article on Swiss banking secrecy a few weeks ago. Here is a link to the article (in German). 

Bernhard Ebbinghaus’ review of my book “The Power to Dimiss” has just been published on the Council for European Studies’ online platform for “review & critical commentary”. Here is a link to the text.

My paper “The Long Arm of Justice: U.S. Structural Power and International Banking” just got accepted for publication in Business and Politics. It’s going to be part of a special issue on the structural power of business, combining theoretical insights from the comparative and international political economy literatures. The guest editor is Pepper Culpepper (EUI).

I am looking for two doctoral researchers. The successful candidates are expected to pursue a PhD degree in political science connected to the new research project entitled “Governance in Vocational and Professional Education and Training” (GOVPET). GOVPET investigates how decentralized cooperation between firms, associations and public authorities in skill formation works at the regional and sectoral levels as well as how the inclusion of disadvantaged labour market participants in the systems of (initial and continuous) vocational and professional training can be improved. GOVPET is a collaborative project of the University of St. Gallen (Prof. Patrick Emmenegger), the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Prof. Carmen Baumeler), the University of Lausanne (Prof. Giuliano Bonoli), and the University of Cologne (Prof. Dr. Christine Trampusch). The successful applicants are expected to work closely together with Prof. Emmenegger and Prof. Trampusch. For more information on GOVPET, go to this website.

Applicants are expected to hold a Master degree in social sciences or economics and demonstrate a strong ability and motivation to pursue an academic career. The position presupposes an interest in theory-driven empirical research on topics of educational and vocational training systems, labor markets and political institutions. A good command of one Swiss national language and English, both spoken and written, is expected.

The position starts in July 2015 (or upon agreement later) and is for a period of three years, with the possibility of extension for another two years. The salary aligns with the directives of the University of St. Gallen and amounts to about 42,000 CHF in the first year.

Applicants should send their full application (in German or English) – including cover letter, CV, letter of motivation, examples of their academic work (e.g. their MA dissertation or seminar papers), copies of relevant certificates and the contact details of two academic references – to Prof. Patrick Emmenegger (patrick.emmenegger@unisg.ch) no later than April 17, 2015. For further inquiry, please send an email to Prof. Patrick Emmenegger.

Swiss banking secrecy was considered impenetrable. Hans-Rudolf Merz, member of the Swiss Federal Council, became famous for calling it ‘a nut too hard to crack’ (in German he said that “An diesem Bankgeheimnis werdet ihr euch die Zähne ausbeissen” but this statement cannot be directly translated into English). Well, he was wrong, wasn’t he? The Swiss Government has announced to implement the automatic exchange of information in tax matters by 2018.

How can we account for this dramatic change? In the project on the demise of Swiss banking secrecy, I am trying together with Katrin Eggenberger to explain why Switzerland wasn’t able to defend banking secrecy and why collective action at the international level suddenly became a possibility. More information on the project can be found on the project website.

In this new project, I am working together with Carmen Baumeler (EHB Zollikofen), Giuliano Bonoli (University of Lausanne) and Christine Trampusch (University of Cologne) to analyze cooperation and conflict in vocational and professional education and training systems. More information can be found on the project website.

Together with Lucas Leemann (University College London) and André Walter (University of St. Gallen), I am looking into the adoption of personal income taxation in Swiss cantons. For this project, we assemble an original dataset of economic, political and social variables for the period 1830-1970. More information can be found on the project website.