No. 115, February
Eurozone Debt (1/3): Government Budgets
- KOF Bulletin
- World Economy
The first of three articles on Eurozone debt focuses on government budgets. Since the debt crisis, the Eurozone member states have significantly reduced new borrowing, with the deficit-to-GDP ratio – a key convergence criterion under the Maastricht Treaty – falling steadily from over 6% in 2010 to just above 1% last year. However, consolidation efforts are on the decline again.
Swiss Companies Set to Invest More
- KOF Bulletin
- Surveys
In 2018, Swiss companies plan to increase their investment activities by around 8%. Remarkably, they intend to step up expansion investment as well as capital investment. These lively investment activities also reflect the healthy state of the Swiss economy.
Digitalisation (1/2): Companies Consider Lack of Skills Among Staff to be Biggest Obstacle to the Spread of Digitalisation
- Innovation
- KOF Bulletin
In the context of the first representative study on digitalisation, which was conducted in 2016, researchers at ETH Zurich and FHNW investigated the level of digitalisation at Swiss companies. Based on a new assessment of the survey, the first of two KOF Bulletin articles investigates which staff skills companies consider most relevant in the context of digitalisation. The researchers found that many employees actually lack the sought-after skills.