Immigrants and cross-border worker in the Swiss labor market: three empirical essays

Author(s) : Sandro Favre

Source : https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-205831

“Switzerland is located in the heart of Western Europe, shares its national languages with its three large neighbors, and has over the last two decades gradually abolished virtually all barriers to immigration from European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries. As a consequence, immigration—mainly from the EU and the EFTA—has resulted in an astonishing increase in the Swiss population by 15 percent (while natural population growth was below 5 percent over this period)! In addition, cross-border worker (CBW) from neighboring countries make up 6 percent of the Swiss labor force. While Switzerland’s labor market is thus highly integrated with its neighboring countries, there are at the same time sharp economic and institutional discontinuities. Wages are substantially higher in Switzerland than in the surrounding countries, tax laws and social security regulations differ, and Switzerland has its own currency, which has experienced huge fluctuations in its value relative to the euro. This situation raises a number of interesting economic questions.“