ValueS
Boundaries
An information magazine of the Federal Statistical Office – Number 2/2012
Crossing a boundary or leaving known territory …
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Foreword
On boundaries in official statistics
Dr Jürg Marti
Director General, Federal Statistical Office
Neuchâtel/Switzerland
Boundaries divide but also provide safety and protection. They lend structure but are also there
to be extended and transcended. The crossing of boundaries opens new perspectives and creates
opportunities for further development.
Official statistics are subject to various boundaries: boundaries governing geography and regulations;
boundaries of a technical and methodological nature and those regarding content. We don’t see these
boundaries as inherently restricting, as they give the system a solid framework within which our political
mandate can be fulfilled. This current edition of ValeurS is about boundaries and in particular about
crossing them.
1852 kilometres of border surround Switzerland. Every day they are crossed by people, for example
by those working in Switzerland as cross-border commuters. The Cross-border Commuter Statistics
of the Federal Statistical Office examines, for instance, where they come from and which jobs they do.
The introduction of the free movement of persons has taken pressure off the borders and demonstrably
altered the labour market. A study by the Cantonal Statistics Office of Ticino has examined whether
this has been positive or negative for the border regions. Today a type of reverse cross-border
­commuting has become extremely popular: shopping in the eurozone. In 2011 the value of goods
­purchased abroad amounted to billions of Swiss francs. The Federal Customs Administration explains
how this affects the work of Swiss customs officers.
The Swiss have a history of leaving their country to build a new life elsewhere. Today, more than
11% of all Swiss citizens live beyond Switzerland’s borders. Whereas in the last century, poverty was
the main reason why people moved away to an often uncertain future, nowadays they do so mostly
for professional reasons or simply in search of adventure.
Poverty is still an issue in Switzerland today. Poverty cannot be defined independently of values,
and whether a person is considered poor or not depends on the point of view or context. Two
­concepts used to define the boundaries of poverty are presented in this magazine.
Open Government Data, that is public administration data made available to the public, is dependent
upon new concepts and a rethinking of traditional boundaries. Official statistics has a pioneering role
to play here, but to fulfil the Confederation’s e-government strategy, further action is needed.
Rimini Protokoll’s theatre production, «100%», is not confined to the boundaries of official statistics.
100 amateur actors representing their home town answer questions that are sometimes very private
in nature, getting up close and personal with statistics, and without data protection. In Zurich, Simone
Nuber, director of the Statistical Office of Zurich, set the ball rolling for the statistical chain reaction.
And Martin Vorrdow, Assistant Lecturer at the University of Neuchâtel’s Biological Institute gives
us an exciting glimpse of how statistics play an important role in his research.
I wish you an interesting read.
FSO ValueS
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Official Statistics in Switzerland: A well functioning
system allows the crossing of boundaries
Official statistics must meet a wide range of demands for quality, scientific rigour, content and independence.
In order to meet these demands, both the system and its boundaries must be defined in a transparent manner.
These boundaries are neither absolute nor immutable. How are boundaries set? Can and should they be opened
and crossed? And what happens when boundaries are redrawn? Jürg Marti and Ruth Meier
O
fficial statistics cannot predict results,
but they can scout future trends and
issues. By opening boundaries with the
necessary foresight, they can help ensure that
policy debates continue to be based on facts.
What is at stake is nothing more and nothing
less than to see to it that democratic decisionmaking is based on reliable data provided by official statistics. This is the essential contribution a
statistical system can make to a well functioning
democracy. Today, it is more relevant than ever
that existing statistical systems be adapted to
new circumstances, that is to say that they cross
boundaries.
Crossing boundaries – leaving familiar terrain
– is exciting and promising. But every innovation entails a certain degree of uncertainty which
can destabilise the existing system. This uncertainty and its associated risks are minimised if
the boundaries are crossed within a stable and
well functioning system such as official statistics.
In this way, the progress with which statistics
adapt their systems in order to accommodate the
changed reality and bring about a necessary consolidation is duly strengthened, thus reestablishing the system’s stability.
Regulatory framework builds trust
The system of official statistics has numerous
boundaries. The public information mandate
suggests first of all that the regulatory framework
must be considered. This regulatory framework
is defined by legislation. Besides the central role
played by the Federal Statistics Act, other laws
that contain provisions on statistics are also relevant. In addition, the Data Protection Act regulates the handling of information and constitutes
an important basis for public confidence, which
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is necessary for the participation of respondents.
Although they are legally enshrined, regulatory
boundaries are not set in stone. They can be
newly created or adapted. This is usually done by
the legislature itself, in the form of mandates to
find answers to new questions, or through parliamentary initiatives. But statistical actors, such as
the FSO, also introduce innovative proposals to
the discussion. Regulatory boundaries also arise
from international integration. For example, the
bilateral agreement on statistical cooperation
with the EU is less about defining “what” – for
Switzerland determines independently what
regulations are to be adopted from EU legislation – than “how” Switzerland implements the
regulations it adopts.
Defining and expanding geographical areas
When speaking of boundaries, it is logical to also
consider geographical areas. Statistics are usually
compiled in reference to territorial units. They
also use geographically defined content concepts
such as the domestic concept, whose best known
representatives are the gross domestic product
and the national consumer price index. Although
official statistics are primarily focused on the
country where they are compiled, foreign countries and international comparisons are playing
an increasingly important role. Foreign countries
represent on the one hand a key “turnover parameter”, for example for the export of goods
and services. On the other hand, they are also
an important “source parameter”, for example
for tourism and migration. Increasing globalisation presents new challenges for statistics, for the
economic value chains are becoming increasingly
complex, international, and consequently more
difficult to measure statistically.
Early identification of action areas
This increased complexity confronts statistical
systems with new challenges in terms of content.
New questions manifest themselves in increased
need for information as well as in more inquiries
and specific mandates. Another task of official
statistics is to actively follow policy debates in
order to derive possible action areas for statistics.
This facilitates, as on a radar screen, the early
identification of themes and the anticipatory
building of new statistical bases. This work does
not necessarily have to culminate in new surveys.
Official statistics are called upon to use new
methods to shed new light on issues and themes.1
New opportunities through modern technologies
Statistical methods are constantly evolving.
Methodological innovations form the basis for
redefinitions of the existing strategies of official
statistics. The most radical redefinition in recent
years was without a doubt the register strategy
for the 2010 census. Technical developments
have also expanded again and again the boundaries of what is statistically feasible; new communication technologies are opening new opportunities and possibilities. For example, the increased
automation of data transfer not only makes it
possible to make the exchange of data more efficient, but it also reduces the burden on “suppliers”.2
such as independence and a commitment to quality. These rules are well known, widely accepted
and adhered to as boundaries. The partnership
of all stakeholders in the system of official statistics constitutes an important foundation for a
common understanding of shared values, mutual
loyalty and transparency.
Not political but policy relevant
Official statistics are by definition not political,
but they must be policy relevant. This characteristic represents both a limitation and a unique
selling point. Strict adherence to this boundary
gives official statistics the independence and heft
they require to identify to situations and trends
that may contradict the political mainstream.
The complexity of statistical processes lends
great weight to the long-term focus of statistical output. Although this entails a certain “systemic inertia” – statistical systems resemble an
oil tanker more than a speedboat – a long-term
view also gives the system certain advantages:
as information is collected on a continuous basis,
the foundations for the “memory of the nation”
are created and developed.
Dr Jürg Marti the Director General of the FSO
Ruth Meier Vice Director of the FSO
Success factors for the successful crossing
of boundaries
When considering the various parameters that
define the boundaries of the statistical system,
the question arises how these boundaries can be
crossed and what are the success factors for a
successful crossing of boundaries. As mentioned
above, the opening of boundaries can cause insecurity and destabilisation. This is a situation that
should be avoided or minimised if at all possible,
also in official statistics. All crossings of boundaries have one thing in common: they move or
change boundaries. In other words: A refocusing takes place which provides a new or changed
perspective and thus a new or modified mapping
of reality.
In order to carry out this refocusing in as stable
an environment as possible, certain firm core values, i.e. central rules of the system, are essential,
1
Examples worth mentioning in
this context are, in addition to
the integrated statistical systems, the national accounts,
environmental accounts, social
accounts and the satellite and
indicator systems.
2
The sedex system (secure
data ­exchange), which was
developed by the FSO and
became a success story,
is a case in point.
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Defining poverty lines
The question of what is meant by poverty and when a person is to be considered poor cannot be answered on
the basis of unambiguously objective and generally accepted criteria. On the contrary, it varies depending on
the perspective and the social, cultural and political context. Poverty cannot be defined independently of values. Given the wide variety of perspectives on the phenomenon of poverty, there are numerous approaches to
collecting statistics on poverty. Consequently, the starting point for designing a poverty statistic is the question
of how to set the poverty line. Two concepts for measuring poverty are explained below. Martina Guggisberg
T
he distribution of opportunities in life, living conditions and social status is largely
determined by income and wealth. Consequently, financial resources play a key role in
measuring poverty. Official poverty statistics
therefore usually focus on the financial resources
of households and thus on material and financial
poverty. The threshold for financial poverty can
be set based on disposable household income1
(and ideally also by taking account of wealth).
Financial poverty thresholds can be set based on
an absolute or relative definition of poverty.
Definition of absolute poverty
Absolute poverty is defined as falling below a
defined subsistence level. Originally, the poverty
line was based on a minimum physical subsistence
level which only included the coverage or availability of food, clothing, shelter, etc. necessary for
survival. But in rich industrialised countries, physical survival is usually guaranteed. Consequently,
the concept of absolute poverty adopted by the
Federal Statistical Office is founded on a needsbased definition of a social subsistence level that
not only guarantees physical survival but also a
minimum level of participation in social life.2
This poverty line is absolute insofar as it is not
directly dependent on the distribution of goods
or resources throughout society. Indirectly, however, this distribution is considered in the definition of the minimum coverage of basic needs.3
The definition of a minimum coverage of basic
needs also depends on the values of a society.
An absolute monetary poverty line is usually defined based on the costs of a specific basket of
goods. This amount is compared with the disposable income of a person or a household. A person
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is considered (income) poor if his or her income
falls below the poverty line. This approach has
the advantage that the measurement of poverty
is based directly on the needs of the people affected by it. This makes it possible to draw conclusions about the coverage of basic needs and
the living conditions of the population. Financial
support for poor people or households is directly
translated into a measurable reduction of the
population identified as poor, which is why a
poverty rate defined in this way is suitable to be
used as a social policy target value.
However, the selection of the goods deemed
to be necessary, which also determines the poverty line, is necessarily value-bound and thus to
some extent arbitrary, as it cannot be determined
by objective scientific criteria. But even a slight
shift in the poverty line has a considerable impact on the number of people identified as poor.
Moreover, such an absolute definition of poverty
results in each country having its own poverty
line, since different countries use different baskets of goods. Consequently, international comparisons are hardly possible when the absolute
concept is applied.
In Switzerland, the social subsistence level is
based on the guidelines of the Swiss Conference for Social Welfare (SKOS), which serve as
a reference for assessing social assistance entitlements. The SKOS guidelines are adopted by
most cantons and communes and are therefore
widely accepted. The FSO’s absolute poverty
line is based on these guidelines. It consists of
a fixed amount to cover living expenses, individual housing costs as well as CHF 100 per
month per person aged 16 or over for additional
expenses.4
1
The disposable household income takes account of all income (income from employment, transfer income and
property income) of all
household members by deducting compulsory expenditures
from the gross household income. This comprises social
insurance contributions (old
age and survivors insurance
and invalidity insurance AHV/IV
contributions, occupational
pension plans, etc.), taxes,
health insurance premiums
and regular transfer payments
to other households (e.g. maintenance payments).
2
This approach is also recommended by the Conference of
Cantonal Directors of Social
Affairs (SODK).
3
The basic needs depend on
the social standard of subsistence and varies over space
and time (for example, in Switzerland a television set is counted as a basic need today, although it used to be considered
a luxury item in the past).
4
By using individual housing
costs, an individual poverty
line is calculated for each
household.
Relative concept – at-risk-of poverty
Unlike absolute poverty lines, relative poverty
lines are based not on need but on the distribution of goods or resources in the total population.
They generally refer either to the lower quantiles
of the income distribution or are defined as part
of the measure of central tendency of the distribution (arithmetic mean or median). The internationally most widely used thresholds are at 50%
and 60% of the median equivalised disposable
income of the population.5 According to this relative conception, poverty corresponds to an extreme form of social inequality.
The advantages of this definition of poverty
are its international distribution, its comparability due to a standardised measurement method
and its simple and comprehensible calculation
method. The at-risk-of-poverty thresholds are
also directly dependent on a given society‘s average level of wealth and are recalculated on an
annual basis so that changes in socio-economic
conditions can be directly integrated (i.e. without
delay due to political processes) into the measure­
ment of poverty.
The main disadvantage of using this approach
to determine who is affected by poverty is that it
is less suitable as a target value to combat poverty:
If the poverty line is defined as a lower quantile of
the income distribution, a pre-determined share
of the population will always be considered poor
(except in the case of absolute equal distribution)
regardless of their actual standard of living. Even if
parts of measures of central tendency are used as
a poverty line (e.g. the limit of 60% of the median
equivalised income), this approach remains open
to the criticism that it does not allow direct conclusions to be drawn about the actual well-being
of the population, but rather reflects the social
inequality of a society. Thus, according to this
concept the extent of poverty remains constant
even if, for example, all members of a society
have 10% more or 10% less per month at their
disposal. In this case, inequality remains the same
although individuals may experience a marked
difference in living conditions. Conversely, people
with an income just above the relative poverty
line can also slide into poverty when the median
income rises, even if their living conditions do not
change in absolute terms. Moreover, the level of
the threshold, i.e. whether 50% or 60% of the
median is chosen, cannot be justified on theoretical grounds nor can it be derived from methodological arguments and empirical analyses and is,
therefore, defined by convention. The use of two
thresholds means that this problem is mitigated
and makes it possible to investigate to what extent the poverty risk depends on the definition
of the threshold value. Moreover, the distribution of incomes in the lower range of incomes is
­described in more detail.
Martina Guggisberg is a research associate in the income and
poverty analysis unit of the FSO’s Social Analysis section
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Wirtschaftliche und soziale Situation der Bevölkerung
851-1001
Armut in der Schweiz:
Konzepte, Resultate und Methoden
Ergebnisse auf der Basis von SILC 2008 bis 2010
Neuchâtel, 2012
This text is an excerpt from the
publication: Armut in der
Schweiz: Konzepte, Resultate
und Methoden. Ergebnisse auf
der Basis von SILC 2008 bis
2010. FSO, Neuchâtel 2012.
Available in French and
German.
5
The 50% limit is used by the
Organisation for Economic
­Cooperation and Development
(OECD), the 60% limit by the
Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat).
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… can be exciting and full of promise but also full of uncertainties.
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It can also lead to a certain destabilisation.
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Employment across borders
The number of people with cross-border commuter status has risen sharply in recent years in Switzerland.
The French and Italian-speaking media regularly report on this phenomenon. Politicians have also discovered
the topic of cross-border commuters. But how many are they actually, where do they come from and in what
occupational groups do they work? The author provides an overview of the most important benchmark figures
at the beginning of 2012. Martial Berset
P
ursuant to the bilateral agreements with the
European Union, the border zones1 with the
EU-8 Member States were abolished as per
May 2011; for the EU-17/EFTA Member States,
these border zones have not been in force since
1 June 2007. This means that a person who resides within the EU-25 / EFTA region may apply
for a cross-border commuter permit (Permit G).
The cross-border commuter permit
The conditions for obtaining a G Permit are
that the person concerned has an employer or
be self-employed with a place of business in
Switzerland and returns to his or her place of
residence at least once per week. There are no
longer any geographical restrictions within Swiss
territory. Consequently, a G permit holder can
be employed throughout Switzerland’s national
territory. The permit is valid for up to five years
and can be renewed. A border zone regulation
is in force for citizens of Romania and Bulgaria.
The one-year quota for immigration from EU-8
Member States decided by the Federal Council
(the “Safety-Valve Clause”) in April 2012 does
not affect cross-border commuters.
The flexibilitation of the labour market has
made the cross-border commuter status markedly more attractive. Accordingly, there has been
a sharp increase in the number of cross-border
commuters in recent years. In the last five years,
i.e. between the first quarter of 2007 and the
first quarter of 2012, the number of cross-border
commuters has increased by 28.8%; it currently
stands at approximately 256,000 (cf. graph 1).2
Because of their citizenship, Swiss nationals who
live abroad and work in Switzerland do not need
a permit and are therefore not included in the
Cross-border Commuter Statistics compiled by
the FSO. They are, however, included in the Employment Statistics and their number in the second quarter of 2011 was estimated at 56,000.3
This number increased by 46.4% between the
second quarter of 2006 and 2011. It cannot be
assumed, however, that all of these 312,000 people cross the Swiss border every day. Cross-border
commuters can return to their place of residence
once per week and can therefore live in Switzerland during the working week. This also explains
why not all cross-border commuters come from
countries neighbouring Switzerland and why
1
The “border zones” are geographically defined areas near
the border within which the
cross-border commuters must
reside and be employed.
2
The statements made here are
largely based on data from the
Cross-border Commuter Statistics of the Federal Statistical
Office (FSO), which indicate
the number of foreign crossborder commuters possessing
a G Permit who are employed
in Switzerland and are resident
abroad. The figures from the
Cross-border Commuter Statistics are about 15-20% below
the number of issued permits
that are still valid because people do not always inform the
authorities when they give up
gainful employment
3
Sources: Labour Force
­Surveys of neighbouring
countries.
Number and growth rates of foreign cross-border commuters, 1996–2012 (1st quarter)
300 000
30%
Growth (12 months) in %
(right axis)
200 000
20%
Number of crossborder commuters
(left axis)
100 000
10%
0
0%
Source: FSO, Cross-border
Commuters Statistics (CCS)
1996
10
1997
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1998
1999 2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005 2006
2007
2008 2009
2010
2011
2012
some of them come from more distant countries
such as the United Kingdom (104), Belgium (83)
and the Netherlands (73).
Majority from France
A large proportion of cross-border commuters
come from three countries: France (135,000), Germany (54,000) and Italy (59,000). Over the last
five years, cross-border commuters resident in
Italy showed the highest increase (+37.0%), those
resident in France the lowest (+25.0%) and those
domiciled in Germany in between (+31.0%; all
cross-border commuters combined: +28.8%). Most
of these cross-border commuters work in the three
major regions of Lake Geneva (33.9%), Northwestern Switzerland (25.3%) and Ticino (20.9%). However, the highest increases in the last five years
were not registered in these regions but in Zurich
(+59.2%), the Espace Mittelland (+37.6%) and
Central Switzerland. This is related to the ­abolition
of the border zones for nationals from the EU-17/
EFTA Members States on 1 June 2007. Prior to this
date, people with a G Permit were not entitled to
be gainfully employed in Central Switzerland.
Despite the abolition of the border zones in
2007, the vast majority of cross-border commuters from France (94.8%) reside in the French
­departments bordering Switzerland.
The situation is similar in Germany: 79.5% of
all cross-border commuters (4th quarter 2011)
were resident in the administrative districts adjoining the Swiss border.
Almost two-thirds of cross-border commuters
from France (85,000) work in the Lake Geneva
region, approximately 30,000 in Northwestern
Switzerland and 19,000 in the Espace Mittelland.
There are also 35,000 persons employed in
Northwestern Switzerland who are resident in
Germany. The third major region with a large
number of cross-border commuters is Ticino, with
53,000 employed persons. Almost all of them live
in Italy. Whereas in the Lake Geneva region and
in Ticino, almost all cross-border commuters
come from France or Italy, respectively, in Northwestern Switzerland there are as many G Permit
holders from Germany as from France.
Although when considered in absolute numbers, the Lake Geneva region clearly registers the
largest number of persons with a G Permit, to
determine the relevance of cross-border employment for a labour market, it is better to put the
number of cross-border commuters in relation to
the number of employed persons. This shows
that in Ticino approximately one quarter of all
employed persons (24.8%) are cross-border
­commuters. In comparison, the relative shares of
employed persons in the Lake Geneva region
(9.8%) and in Northwestern Switzerland are
markedly lower (10.0%). In Switzerland as a
whole, the share is 5.4%.
Employment in lower-skilled occupations
In order to obtain an accurate picture of the current situation of cross-border commuters for the
Swiss economy, it is important to know in what
economic sectors and occupational groups they
are working and in what ways they differ from
the rest of the employed population. An observation by economic sectors indicates that an
above-average share of cross-border commuters
are employed in the secondary sector, i.e. in industry. Thus, 39.9% of cross-border commuters
are employed in the industrial sector, compared
with only 22.5% of the employed population as
a whole. The reverse is the case with respect to
the service occupations in the tertiary sector:
Whereas 73.9% of all employed persons work in
the service sector, this applies to only 59.4% of
cross-border commuters. Approximately 0.7% of
cross-border commuters are employed in agriculture, compared with 3.6% of all employed persons.
Foreign cross-border commuters by sex,
major region, place of residence, age group
and economic sector, 2012
1. Quarter
2012
2012
Sex
Men
Age
163 728
15–19 years
1 540
92 307
20–24 years
15 912
25–29 years
32 969
Women
30–34 years
37 221
86 696
35–39 years
36 705
Espace Mittelland
19 976
40–44 years
38 069
Northwestern
Switzerland
64 758
45–49 years
37 461
26 607
Major region
Lake Geneva region
Zurich
7 699
50–54 years
Eastern Switzerland
22 300
55–59 years
17 217
Central Switzerland
1 188
60+ years
12 334
Ticino
53 417
Country of residence
Germany
France
Italy
Austria
Other
Total
Sektoren
53 684
134 932
58 772
Landwirtschaft
1 720
Industrie
102 135
Dienstleistung
152 181
Total
256 036
8 214
434
256 036
Source: FSO, Cross-border Commuters Statistics (CCS)
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A breakdown by major groups based on ISCO08 is also revealing.4 There are ten categories in
the most aggregated level, that of the major
groups. While the categories “managers” and
“professionals” require a high level of skill, the
categories “plant and machine operators, and
assemblers”
and “elementary
occupations”
reForeign cross-border
commuters
by sex,
major fewer
region,qualifications.
place of residence,
group of
quire
If the age
distribution
and economiccommuters
sector, 2012
cross-border
is observed across these
categories
with the distribution
1. Quarter and compared
2012
2012 of
all employed persons, differences become apparSex
Age
ent
(cf. Table 2). A striking
difference is seen in
Men
163 728 15–19 years
1 540
the “professionals” group, to which 23.5% of the
Women
92 307 20–24 years
15 912
employed population are25–29
attributed,
compared
years
32 969
with 11.7% of persons with a G Permit, which
Major region
30–34 years
37 221
corresponds to a difference of 11.8 percentage
Lake Geneva region 86 696 35–39 years
36 705
points.
Another marked
difference is seen among
Espace Mittelland
19 976 40–44 years
38 069
“elementary
occupations”:
whereas
17.3%
Northwestern
64 758 45–49
years
37 461of
Switzerland
cross-border
commuters are employed in occuZurich
7 699 50–54 years
607
pations
in this category,
the corresponding26share
Eastern Switzerland 22 300 55–59 years
17 217
ofCentral
employed
persons
as a whole is 4.3%. This
corSwitzerland
1 188 60+ years
12 334
responds
to
a
difference
of
13
percentage
points.
Ticino
53 417
The overall picture shows clearly that cross-borCountry of residence
Sektoren
der commuters are employed in jobs that demand
Germany
53 684 Landwirtschaft
1 720
lower
qualifications
than the employed populaFrance
134 932 Industrie
102 135
tion
Italy as a whole. 58 772 Dienstleistung
152 181
The under-representation
of cross-border
Austria
8 214
Other
434
commuters
in the categories
that require higher
qualifications
dovetails
with
Total
256 036 Total the findings
256 of
036 a
study conducted by the State Secretariat for EcoSource: FSO, Cross-border Commuters Statistics (CCS)
nomic Affairs (SECO). The SECO study shows
that cross-border commuters in the cantons of
Geneva (-16%) and Ticino (-18%) earn markedly
less on average than other employed persons.5
The differences become smaller when various
factors such as years of education and industry
are filtered out, which do have an influence on
the wage gap, but according to SECO even if
these factors are considered a wage gap remains
(GE:-6%; TI:-11%).
Statistics are important for monitoring
the development
Considering the important role played by crossborder employment, particularly in the labour
markets in French-speaking Switzerland and in
Ticino, it is not surprising that the issue is attracting increasing attention from policy-makers and
the media. The interest in the future development
of cross-border commuter figures is also understandable. It is, however, difficult to make such
forecasts because they are influenced by economic developments and political events. It is,
therefore, all the more important to conduct highquality monitoring of long and short-term trends
and to obtain a detailed picture of the ­current
situation, to which the Cross-border Commuter
Statistics are an important contribution.
Martial Berset is an occupational and organisational psychologist
and a research associate at the Federal Statistical Office
Cross-border commuters 2012 Q1
Employed persons 2012 Q1
absolute
absolute
(in 1000)
in %
256 036
in %
4 365
Managers
17 384
6,8%
344
7,9%
Professionals
30 013
11,7%
1 024
23,5%
Technicians and associate professionals
44 233
17,3%
771
17,7%
Clerical support workers
22 159
8,7%
413
9,5%
Services and sales workers
35 437
13,8%
710
16,3%
Skilled agricultural and forestry workers
Craft and related trades workers
1 284
0,5%
142
3,3%
42 462
16,6%
582
13,3%
Plant and machine operators and assemblers
16 227
6,3%
167
3,8%
Elementary occupations
44 357
17,3%
189
4,3%
2 480
1,0%
23
0,5%
No indication
1
Employed persons of the permanent resident population according to the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SFLS)
Source: FSO, Cross-border Commuters Statistics (CCS) and Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS)
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5
Seco, 2011. Auswirkungen der
Personenfreizügigkeit auf den
Schweizer Arbeitsmarkt. 7. Bericht des Observatoriums zum
Freizügigkeitsabkommen
Schweiz-EU. (Effects of the
free movement of persons on
the Swiss labour market. Seventh report by the Research
Institute on the Free Movement
of Persons between Switzerland and the EU.) Bern: SECO.
This is an abridged version of
an article published in the journal terra cognita 21/2012.
Employed persons1 and foreign cross-border commuters by main occupational groups, 2012
Total
4
International Standard Classification of Occupations 2008:
ISCO is a classification that
­organises occupations into
groups and divides them hierarchically based on the skills
and training required for them.
2011: A boom for shopping tourists
Because of the weak Euro, last year ordinary Swiss citizens bought more products across Switzerland’s borders
than ever before. Swiss consumers purchased between three and five billion Swiss francs worth of goods
­abroad. And foreign customs administrations issued a record number of export certificates which enable
­people to obtain a refund on VAT. What impact has shopping tourism had on Swiss customs? Walter Pavel
More contraband?
As is always the case, the more goods are imported, the more goods are also smuggled into
the country. Thus, the number of smuggling cases
in tourist traffic increased by 26% compared with
the previous year, to approximately 20,000 cases.
But these cases of smuggling usually involve comparatively small amounts of money. This is seen
from a comparison with organised smuggling, in
which far larger amounts in customs duties are
evaded. The Customs Investigation Office solved
some 5800 cases of smuggling in 2011. That
is 400 more than in the previous year. Customs
duties in the amount of CHF 13 million were
evaded. The most smuggled goods continue to
be food items, because of the high customs duties. In 2011, just under 1000 tonnes of foodstuff
was smuggled, compared with approximately
800 tonnes in the previous year. By far the most
frequently smuggled food items were fruits and
vegetables.
tion within Switzerland because smuggled goods
can be sold much cheaper and the profit margins
are higher. What’s more, such products can pose
a health risk to consumers, because there is no
knowing where they originated and under what
circumstances they were transported”, explains
the Director General of Customs.
More revenue?
Nor is it the case that the Confederation takes
in more money because of shopping tourism.
“Quite the opposite is the case”, explains Dietrich. First of all, because no customs duties are
collected for purchases below the tax-free limit
CHF 300, while all domestically sold goods are
taxed. Added to this is the fact that import prices
are generally lower than retail prices in Switzerland.
Walter Pavel is head of the Communication section at the Swiss
Federal Customs Administration, FCA
More customs controls?
Last year the Customs Administration was often
asked whether more controls were being carried out in tourist traffic because of the booming shopping tourism. “This is absolutely not the
case,” says Director General of Swiss Customs
Rudolf Dietrich. “First of all, the personnel that
would be necessary for this is not available.
Secondly, our goal is not to conduct as many
customs controls as possible but rather to make
the right controls.” Moreover, customs duties in
tourist traffic account for a negligible share of total customs revenues of CHF 23 billion (0.2%).
Consequently, more controls would be disproportionate. Instead, the aim is to uncover large-scale
organised smuggling in which far greater sums
of money are at stake. “It also distorts competi-
Article published in the information magazine of the Federal
Customs Administration Forum Z – Forum D 1/2012 available in
German, French or Italian.
More information and detailed descriptions of the work of the
Swiss Federal Customs Administration can be found on the
internet at www.ezv.admin.ch.
FSO ValueS
13
Free movement of people: joy or sorrow?
Has the free movement of persons caused job losses or has it stimulated economic growth and the employment of the local labour force as well? Has it led to a lowering of domestic wages or have the stimuli of growth
caused them to rise? Through the quantitative analysis of the abolition of a pillar of Swiss migration policy –
the employment priority given to the domestic labour force until June 2004 – the study done by the Cantonal
Statistis Office of Ticino provides answers to these questions. Maurizio Bigotta, Oscar Gonzalez and Fabio B. Losa.
I
n 2004, as part of the gradual introduction of the agreement on the free
movement of people, the domestic
priority vis-à-vis foreign employees in
the Swiss labour market was abolished.
Thanks to what until then had been a
fundamental provision of Swiss migration policy, in recent decades the authorities had been able to regulate the flow
of cross-border commuters depending
on the needs of the economy as a whole
and by respecting the employment priority of the domestic labour force. This
resulted in the so-called cyclical buffer
function with regard to cross-border
commuters to further the economic development of border regions.
The questions addressed
by this research
The study “Free movement: joy or sorrow?” provides a quantitative evaluation
of the consequences of this deregulation
measure on the Swiss border regions
(with internal regions as control group),
calculating the average impact on those
concerned in terms of the jobs and wages
of the domestic labour force.
Based on scientific methods and highly
reliable findings, this study answers two
fundamental questions: 1. Have the extended possibilities for the recruitment
of cross-border commuters – who are
basically more flexible and in part
cheaper – caused job losses and an increase in unemployment in the Swiss
border regions? Or has the increased
freedom actually boosted economic
growth and in so doing also boosted
the hiring of employees living in Switzerland? 2. Has deregulation driven down
14
FSO ValueS
wages or have the growth stimuli – at
least in the medium term – brought about
wage increases for domestic workers?
These questions are of social, economic and political significance. On the
one hand in view of the high immigration of foreign workers in border regions
but also with regard to the role played
by cross-border commuters in the local
labour markets and the symbolic value
of this pillar of Swiss migration policy.
The effects on employment
Overall the measure caused the loss of
over 40,000 jobs in the border areas
up until the end of September 2005
(this corresponds to a relative change
of -1.5%).
The general decline in employment is
the result of a decline in the Swiss component (-2.4%, i.e. 49,477 fewer jobs)
and an increase in the employment of
foreign women (+3.9%, and the creation
of 9,000 new jobs).
The negative effects on the Swiss
labour force, which extend to nearly all
economic activities, concern both men
and women. The former registered a net
loss of just under 31,000 jobs (-2.6%),
and the latter experienced missed employment opportunities amounting to
18,549 jobs (-2.1%).
The effects on wages
Overall deregulation led to wage increases of +0.8%, or CHF 55 per month
(figures from end October 2006).
Swiss men profited most from the
deregulation with an increase in average
monthly wages of 1.7% between 2002
and 2006. The wages of foreigners (men
and women) and Swiss women, however, saw no change as a result of the
deregulation.
Positive effects were clearly observed
in several groups with a high career profile or wage level: workers aged over 50
(+1.8%), workers with a tertiary education qualification (+2.5%) and persons
in a position of responsibility or in jobs
requiring advanced level qualifications
(+1.7%). (+1,7%). The number of unskilled workers also increased (+0.9%).
Three groups, however, had to bear the
negative consequences of deregulation.
For these groups the increased competition and greater employment of crossborder commuters has had a dampening
effect on wages (in comparison to the
situation before deregulation): the groups
affected are young people (-1.0%), workers in medium-skill jobs (-0.5%) and in
non-management jobs (-0.7%).
Of all the different economic activities, the only ones to show statistically
relevant results were the manufacturing
industry (+1.3%) and the mining industry
which registered a clear decline (-9.7%).
Deregulation had no effect on wages in
other economic activities.
The regional analysis shows both
winners and losers: on the one hand the
cantons of Neuchâtel, Geneva and both
Basel half-cantons (together) registered
wage increases of +6.2%, +5.3% and
+1.7%. No change was recorded in the
cantons of Vaud and Zurich, and in Ticino deregulation led to a fall in wage
growth of -1.9% (CHF-114 per month).
If the consequences in the border cantons are broken down by occupational
and socio-demographic groups, typical
situations can be observed which indicate
Border zones and domestic zones in Switzerland in accordance with the
agreements in force until May 2007 on the cross-border labour force
border communes
domestic communes
SH
BS
TG
BL
JU
ZH
AG
AR
SO
ZG
LU
NE
OW
FR
SZ
GL
NW
BE
AI
SG
UR
GR
VD
TI
GE
0
25
VS
50 km
Source: Statistical office of Canton Ticino, Giubiasco
the specific types of job profiles and the
roles played by cross-border commuters
in the various labour markets. In Neuchâtel and Geneva, for example, almost
all groups benefited from deregulation,
in particular men – Swiss men (+8.0%
in Neuchâtel and +7.1% in Geneva) and
resident foreigners (+5.1% and +6.1%
respectively) – as well as all groups with
a high career profile and wage level. In
Basel and Zurich, however, only a few
groups benefited from the positive effect of deregulation: Swiss men (+1.4%
and 2.5% respectively) and – as already
seen – those with a relatively high career
profile and salary. In Basel (both half
cantons together) Swiss women registered wage growth of +2.7%, whereas
the same group in Zurich experienced
slower wage growth (-2.4%). In Ticino
the negative picture is attributable to the
effects on the wages of foreign women
(-6.9%) and another four groups: workers aged between 25 and 49, workers
with a secondary education or mediumskill qualification and managers. In all
other categories – including Swiss workers of both sexes – deregulation had no
influence on the development of wages.
Spatial division:
communes
© FSO, ThemaKart
Ultimately, the consequences of the
abolition of domestic priority have been
both negative and positive – bringing
joy and sorrow – given that the new
cross-border commuters can be seen as
complementary to or as a replacement
for resident workers depending on the
specific regional labour markets. Deregulation has created new jobs and as a
consequence boosted economic growth.
At the same time, however, it has caused
the loss of jobs (i.e. has caused unemployment) and brought about a reduction in job opportunities. It has led to
wage rises but simultaneously slowed
down wage growth.
Maurizio Bigotta, previously research assistant at
Ustat, currently undertaking doctoral studies in socioeconomics at the University of Geneva in the “LIVES”
National Centre of Competence in Research
Dr Oscar Gonzalez, Head of the Economics Section
of Ustat
Dr Fabio Losa, currently on sabbatical leave from
the Statistical Office of Canton Ticino (Ustat) and working at the African Development Bank in Tunisia
as Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist,
is research associate at CREM-CNRS (University
of Rennes)
Summary of the publication
Maurizio Bigotta, Oscar Gonzalez and Fabio B. Losa,
Libera circolazione: gioie o dolori? (Free movement of
people: joy or sorrow?) Analysis of the impact on the
Swiss labour market of the abolition of the employment priority of Swiss workers. Analyses from the
Statistical Office of Canton Ticino (Ustat), 2012.
This publication will shortly be available in French.
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15
However, if the boundary is being crossed from a well-functioning and defined system
16
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such as official statistics …
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17
More than 700,000 Swiss nationals registered abroad
In the debates about Switzerland as an immigration country it is often forgotten that in the past, Switzerland
was time and again an emigration country. For example, between 1837 and 1880, the number of Swiss nationals
who left Switzerland was greater than the number of foreign nationals who settled in this country. At the end
of 2011, there were 703,640 Swiss nationals abroad, corresponding to approximately 10% of Swiss nationals
living in Switzerland. Thomas Kalau
A
s shown by the 2011 statistics on Swiss
nationals abroad, a large majority (62%)
live in Europe: 97% of them live in a
country of the European Union . Approximately
three out of four Swiss citizens abroad are also
citizens of one or more other countries.
France most popular followed by Germany
and the United States
France is home to the largest Swiss community
abroad. 183,754 Swiss nationals are registered
at Swiss representations in Lyon, Paris, Marseille
and Strasbourg, representing more than a quarter
of all Swiss abroad (26%). Germany is in second
place, with 79,050 Swiss citizens (11.2%), followed by the United States (75,637 or 10.7%).
At the other end of the scale are São Tomé and
Príncipe, Micronesia and Kiribati, each of these
countries being home to just one Swiss citizen.
The largest percentage increase in Asia
Last year the number of Swiss citizens registered
abroad increased by 1.2% (8517 persons). As in
2010, the largest growth was recorded in Asia
(+1861 or 4.5%), followed by Europe (+5705 or
1.3%), Oceania (+334, 1.1%), Africa (+155, 0.8%)
and America (+462, 0.3%).
Voters abroad
Of the 545,844 Swiss citizens abroad entitled
to vote, 143,288 (26.3%) are registered as voters at a Swiss commune in order to exercise
this right; this corresponds to an increase of
5.5% compared with the previous year. Since
1 July 1992 it has been possible to take part
in Swiss political life from abroad, i.e. to vote
at federal level as well as in National Council
elections without having to be in Switzerland
to do so.
Development of Swiss nationals registered abroad, 1980 −2011 (total)
800 000
200 000
703 640
695 101
580 396
492 725
402 785
363 117
300 000
354 232
400 000
456 025
500 000
527 795
600 000
634 216
700 000
100 000
Source: Organisation of the
Swiss Abroad (OSA)1
0
1980
18
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1983
1986
1989
1992
1995
2000
2005
2011
Largest Swiss communities abroad, 2011
France
183 754
Germany
79 050
USA
75 637
Italy
49 555
Canada
39 045
UK
29 778
Spain
23 978
Australia
23 378
Argentina
15 715
Israel
15 172
Source: Organisation of the
Swiss Abroad (OSA)1
Brazil 14 758
0
20 000
40 000
60 000
80 000
100 000
120 000
140 000
160 000
180 000
200 000
Development of emigrations and return migrations by Swiss nationals, 1981– 2010
35 000
migration outflows
30 000
25 000
migration inflows
20 000
15 000
10 000
5 000
0
1981
Source: Organisation of the
Swiss Abroad (OSA)1
1985
1990
Surplus of departures since 1990
Whereas at the end of the 1980s, Swiss citizens
were leaving or arriving in more or less equal
numbers (approx. 28,000 to 30,000 persons
per year), since 1990 there has been a surplus of
­emigrations. In 2010 there were 26,311 departures compared with 22,383 arrivals.
New centralised register
This year for the first time the statistics on the
Swiss abroad was centrally collated in Bern at the
request of the Consular Directorate of the Federal Department of Foreign Affiars (FDFA), using
a centralised register.
Until now, data on Swiss nationals abroad was
compiled by the embassies and consulates and
sent to the FDFA to calculate the statistics. The
new procedure is more efficient and the information more precise.
1995
2000
2005
2010
The statistics on the Swiss abroad cover all
Swiss nationals registered with Swiss representations abroad. The figures for Swiss nationals in
the Principality of Liechtenstein come from the
Liechtenstein Statistical Office, as there is no
Swiss embassy in Vaduz.
Thomas Kalau is Deputy Head of Relations
with the Swiss Abroad
1
The OSA is the umbrella
organi­sation of Swiss associations abroad and represents
the interests of Swiss nationals
in the Fifth Switzerland. It organises, among other things,
the Council of the Swiss Abroad
(“Parliament of the Fifth Switzerland”) and manages the Secretariat for the Swiss Abroad:
www.aso.ch
Federal Department of Foreign
Affairs, internet:
www.eda.admin.ch
FSO ValueS
19
With or without borders
Migration of the permanent resident population,1 2011
International migration
Internal migration
Arrival
Immigration
Emigration
Net
migration
148 799
96 494
52 305
Lake Geneva region
46 845
32 513
Vaud
23 256
Valais
4 848
Geneva
Departure
from
another
canton
Net
migration
from a
commune
of the same
canton
vers un
autre canton
to a
commune
of the same
canton
138 936
338 917
138 936
338 917
0
14 332
16 743
79 665
18 693
79 665
-1 950
14 825
8 431
9 543
41 887
9 863
41 887
-320
3 010
1 838
4 573
13 192
3 806
13 192
767
18 741
14 678
4 063
2 627
24 586
5 024
24 586
-2 397
Espace Mittelland
20 633
12 835
7 798
28 750
79 671
26 932
79 671
1 818
Bern
10 012
6 766
3 246
12 256
47 686
12 038
47 686
218
Total 2
Total
Fribourg
4 514
2 429
2 085
6 664
12 793
4 507
12 793
2 157
Solothurn
2 320
1 485
835
6 665
9 197
6 441
9 197
224
Neuchâtel
3 148
1 781
1 367
2 216
7 416
2 915
7 416
-699
639
374
265
949
2 579
1 031
2 579
-82
15 841
8 650
7 191
26 026
39 870
25 050
39 870
976
Jura
Northwest Switzerland
Basel-Stadt
5 645
3 711
1 934
4 936
1 129
6 518
1 129
-1 582
Basel-Landschaft
3 091
1 841
1 250
6 668
9 912
6 658
9 912
10
Aargau
7 105
3 098
4 007
14 422
28 829
11 874
28 829
2 548
Zurich
31 572
19 635
11 937
22 688
61 683
22 562
61 683
126
Eastern Switzerland
16 306
10 210
6 096
25 288
36 984
26 074
36 984
-786
120
Glarus
Schaffhausen
Appenzell A. Rh.
Appenzell I. Rh.
495
205
290
1 060
815
940
815
1 341
512
829
1 752
2 051
1 677
2 051
75
573
385
188
2 107
971
2 157
971
-50
126
95
31
394
5
439
5
-45
St. Gallen
7 202
4 425
2 777
9 724
16 519
10 227
16 519
-503
Graubünden
2 909
2 536
373
3 383
7 208
4 612
7 208
-1 229
Thurgau
3 660
2 052
1 608
6 868
9 415
6 022
9 415
846
10 621
7 095
3 526
17 330
25 797
17 251
25 797
79
5 116
3 592
1 524
7 320
14 868
6 729
14 868
591
278
162
116
430
1 062
627
1 062
-197
1 381
1 242
139
4 290
3 847
4 190
3 847
100
393
236
157
830
769
936
769
-106
Central Switzerland
Lucerne
Uri
Schwyz
Obwalden
Nidwalden
385
244
141
1 146
1 272
1 218
1 272
-72
Zug
3 068
1 619
1 449
3 314
3 979
3 551
3 979
-237
Ticino
6 973
4 203
2 770
2 111
15 247
2 311
15 247
-200
Excluding foreign citizens with a short-term residence permit and foreign citizens seeking asylum
with a valid permit of of less than 12 months.
2
Including persons whose canton of residence is unknown.
1
20
FSO ValueS
Source: STATPOP
E
very change of main place of residence is
considered a migration. A distinction is made
between international migrations (between
Switzerland and abroad) and internal migrations
(within Switzerland). Internal migrations are further subdivided into migrations between cantons,
which are called intercantonal migrations, and
migrations between communes within a canton,
which are referred to as intracantonal migrations.
Until 2010, changes in status and withdrawals
from the asylum process, i.e. the balance ­between
changes in the permanent resident population
and the non-permanent resident population,
were included in the immigration figures and net
migration. Since 2011, only immigrations have
been considered. This change also has an effect
on net migration.
All cantons are experiencing a population increase due to international migration. The cantons
of Zug, Vaud, Schaffhausen and Basel-Stadt register the highest rates of net international migration, i.e. more than 10 persons per 1000 inhabitants.
As for migrations within Switzerland, Fribourg
leads the pack with a net internal migration rate
of more than seven persons per 1000 inhabitants.
The cantons that are losing most inhabitants
due to the departure of residents from them are
­Geneva, Uri, Graubünden and Basel-Stadt.
Fabienne Rausa, is a research associate,
Demography and Migration Section, FSO
… uncertainty can be kept to a minimum in order to tackle the job in hand.
FSO ValueS
21
Open Government Data – the statistical point of view
The World Wide Web has set the standard: vast amounts of information are freely available and ready for use.
And the aim of many open data initiatives is for this to become increasingly true for government data as well.
Although official statistics have been offering this service for a long time, there is still a need for action in
­order to meet important open government data criteria: data catalogues, licensing and machine-readable data
formats to name a few. Armin Grossenbacher
A
new buzz word can be heard in the world
of information: Open Government Data.
What does it refer to? The “Swiss Open
Government Data Study” of June 2012 explains:
“Open Government Data (OGD) describes the
open availability and free reutilisation of public
authority data, provided that regulations on data
protection, copyright and information security are
not infringed. The OGD concept is based on the
principle of freedom of information and promises
more transparency, social utility and economic
growth. OGD are an important contribution to
global data space which in parallel to the world
wide web makes new knowledge and innovation
possible.”1
Today OGD are already reality and as proof
of their openness and capacity for democracy,
various countries – in particular the British and US
governments – have launched special open data
websites. Official statistics play a large part in
this: their datasets are usually well-represented. 2
Official statistics as pioneer
Although Switzerland does not (yet) have a website at federal level with a data catalogue summarising available content, OGD does have a
tradition here. Several federal offices have made
data openly available for some time now and the
Federal Statistical Office is among the pioneers.
The principle of open data was already enshrined
in the Federal Statistical Act of 9 October 1992
(BStatG).
Art. 18 Publications/Dissemination
1
The most important statistical results and basic
principles are to be published in user-friendly
form in the official languages. Adequate access
to non-published results is to be ensured.3
22
FSO ValueS
Security through licensing
Although the tens of thousands of datasets that
the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) makes available on the Swiss Statistics website 4 are freely
available and can be used with acknowledgement
of source, restrictions persist in the form of fees
paid for the commercial use of data. A nationwide
licence in line with international practice (e.g. as
per Creative Commons) does not yet exist; this
would generally ensure that users act within the
law.
The standards of open data:
from simple data on websites
to semantically linked and
­machine-readable data5
Cataloguing of data necessary
Without a catalogue to provide an overview and
a single point of access, it is difficult to find datasets across various providers. The Confederation is faced with the organisational challenge of
creating such a catalogue and also of answering
the question of which data should be included,
both in the short and the long term. How to
compensate for the loss of income from data that
previously had to be paid for – e.g. in the area
of geodata – is another problem that will need
to be solved.
Five-star standard required
The majority of OGD data today are in a format
that can be machine-processed, i.e. Excel or PDF
files that meet the “three-star standard”. The
challenge, or rather the requirement, of creating
data that can be found by machines and used in
applications without human intervention is still
far from being met and also far from the fivestar standard of the semantic web.
What is the five-star standard? For example,
when the inflation data of various data providers
are well detailed (using metadata) in accordance
1
André Golliez et al.: Open
Government Data Studie
Schweiz (Swiss Open Government Data Study). Bern University of Applied Sciences.
­Public Management and
E-Government Competence
Centre, Bern,
2012 – http://goo.gl/yqi4J
2
E.g. UK OGD website:
www.data.gov.uk/data
3
SR 431.01 Federal Statistical
Act (BStatG)
www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/
c431_01.html
4
www.lexikon-stat.admin.ch/
5
www.w3.org/
DesignIssues/LinkedData.html
with the relevant standards, computer program­
mes can find these data on a global scale in the
openly accessible data cloud, merge them and
display them on a website for comparison or use
them together with other data (mash up) for a
forecasting application.6 This data format, also
known as linked open government data, is currently being developed within the framework of
FSO dissemination.
A priority project
The above-mentioned points are part of the Confederation’s e-government strategy which was
developed in close collaboration with the cantons
and communes.7
Measure B 2.12 of this strategy describes the
objectives of open government data as follows:
“Data arising from the activity of public authorities can be of use to the population and
the economy. They hold great potential for innovation and an additional value added through
reutilisation and improvement by the private
sector and can generate greater transparency
with regard to government and administration
activity. The public administration is therefore
keen to ­ensure that all non-personal data should
be accessible and suitable for reutilisation, while
adhering as far as possible to the principles of the
Open Knowledge Foundation (http://okfn.org).
An initial phase will see the creation of basic principles of open government data and the
gathering of experience through the initial pilot
projects.”
The debate on OGD is also being closely followed in private initiatives such as for example
opendata.ch 9 and is part of the current political
parliamentary discussion.10
Armin Grossenbacher is Head of the Dissemination
and Publications Section, FSO
6
Florian Bauer and Martin Kaltenböck: Linked Open Data:
The Essentials. A Quick Start
Guide for Decision Makers.
­Edition mono/monochrom,
­V ienna, 2012 – http://goo.gl/
YcEAE
7
E-Government Programme
­O ffice Switzerland (Hg.):
­Catalogue of priority projects,
Status on 15 June 2012.
http://goo.gl/tA4Iu
8
http://goo.gl/X8CDw
9
www.opendata.ch
10
http://goo.gl/4YSdw
The data cloud consisting of datasets which are available in linked open data (LOD) format.
At the core: dbpedia, the LOD version of Wikipedia.8
FSO ValueS
23
“100% of Zurich” – Turning numbers into stories
What happens when a city is represented by 100 people on stage? One hundred Zurich residents were selected
in a random chain reaction to bring their stories to the stage at the Gessnerallee Theatre in Zurich. An interview with Simone Nuber, director of the Zurich Statistics Office, who started the chain reaction as number one
Interview by Verena Hirsch
Clear the stage for the average
The German-Swiss theatre director trio Rimini Protokoll, composed of Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi
and Daniel Wetzel, want to bring reality to the
stage and make possible unusual perspectives on
reality. In several cities, including Vienna, Vancouver and Melbourne, they brought to the stage
100 residents who constitute a representative
average of their city’s population. The performers are generally selected by age, marital status,
sex, citizenship and district where they live. It is
not always possible to find enough people to fill
each category 100%. For the theatre production
in Zurich, for example, it was not possible to find
a sufficient number (in proportion to their share
of the population) of married men aged between
25 and 45 who were willing to take part. It cannot
be due to a fear of forgetting one’s lines, because
the performers are not playing roles: they are playing themselves. They answer questions about their
political views, their emotional life, and their preferences. Whether they support the reintroduction
of the death penalty, want more parking spaces,
or have found true happiness, the 100 participants
offer a glimpse into their private lives on stage
in front of an audience. They do so by choosing
­between two fields: “Applies to me” and “Does
not apply to me”. A live lesson in demography, as it
were. Until recently, the audience was used to seeing statistics as a series of numbers in pie and bar
charts, but now average people are given a stage
and statistics a face. Whether this face, obtained
from the anonymity of charts, always speaks the
truth is another question. For example, most people who have committed shoplifting in the past
would not readily admit it in public. Thus, in some
cases statistics, which are generally considered to
be impartial and incorruptible, could be less than
truthful. For this reason, when sensitive questions
are asked, the lights are sometimes turned off
and flashlights are used to illuminate the “Applies
to me” or the “Does not apply to me” fields. But
24
FSO ValueS
“100% Zurich” does not expect completely truthful answers to all its questions, because behind
every statistic there are human beings. And they
don’t always tell the truth.
Ms Nuber, you are the director of the Zurich
Statistics Office. What prompted you to go
on stage for “100% Zurich”?
As someone with an interest in statistics as well
as in theatre, I have long been following with
enthusiasm Rimini-Protokoll’s productions. I had
already attended the 100% productions in Vienna and Karlsruhe. Because I am fascinated by
their approach to documentary theatre and their
interpretation of statistics on the stage, I immediately said yes when Rimini-Protokoll asked me
to trigger the statistical chain reaction as number
one for the theatre in Zurich. As a middle-aged
resident of Zurich’s District 7, I represent, like the
other 99 performers on the stage of the Gessnerallee Theatre, 3900 inhabitants or one hundredth
of the population of the City of Zurich.
The hundred actors let the audience take part in their stories – photo Pigi Psimenou.
Who has, who hasn‘t? The group picture is orchestrated by the question and answer game – photo Pigi Psimenou.
Is the Zurich Statistics Office making another
contribution to “100% Zurich” besides your
performance on stage?
We provided figures and facts on the City of Zurich
and its peculiarities for the theatre programme.
We also compiled the raster for the drawing of
the sample. Because to cast the performers, the
“100% Zurich” performances are preceded by a
chain reaction among friends and acquaintances
lasting several months.
How does this chain reaction to cast
the performers work?
The producers pick a single person to take place
in the production. In Zurich I was picked for this
role. I was then asked to pick the next participant
from my circle of friends and acquaintances and
that person then picked the next person in the
chain, and so forth, until 100 Zurich residents
were selected. Each of them is now on stage for
“100% Zurich”. The participants were selected
according to the statistical criteria of sex, age
group, citizenship, district where they live and
marital status. My job was the easiest, because
I was free to choose the statistical criteria for the
sample. From number 80 or so it became more
difficult to pick the next performer. To pick one
example: finding a widowed resident of Zurich
aged between 25 and 44 with Italian roots can
be quite a challenge. Solving such problems is not
always easy for Rimini-Protokoll.
Does a performance on stage make statistics
easier to understand?
Although we are not making any methodological
disquisitions, the theatre performance does make
statistics more intelligible. Actually, we are turning statistics on their head because in our dayto-day work we turn stories, facts and personal
histories into numbers and in “Zurich 100%” we
are doing the opposite. First of all, statistical anonymity is done away with, because the performers who are selected for the show represent their
individuality and vote publicly and live on stage.
On the other hand, real-time statistics are shown,
though given that only 100 people are on stage
their representativeness is limited. Questions are
asked, people answer them and the result is projected onto a screen as a percentage. The “100%
Zurich” show thus provides the audience with
a better understanding of statistics and of their
city. It shows precisely what I think is most exciting about statistics: As we live, we leave behinds
us traces of data. Our behaviour produces stories,
and the facts we draw from them are statistics.
This is a wonderful illustration of the fact that statistics are anything but dry. Statistics ultimately
tell exciting stories written by life.
FSO ValueS
25
The performances were staged
in October 2012 in the Gessner­
allee Theatre in Zurich. The
­a ccompanying book can be
­o btained from the Gessner­
allee Theatre or the Zurich
­S tatistics Office. In 2013,
100% will be brought to the
stage in Dresden, San Diego
and probably also in Moscow,
Krakow, Salvador da Bahia
and in Tokyo. And in 2014
­certainly in Paris.
More information can be found
on the internet at:
www.rimini-protokoll.de/
website/de/index.php and
www.stadt-zuerich.ch/statistik
Anonymised data and representativeness are
key aspects of statistics. In the theatre project,
on the other hand, there are people with faces
on stage. Isn’t that a contradiction?
It’s true enough that in statistics, we deal mainly
with generalisations, representativeness and
anonymised data. These 100 participants mainly
represent their individuality and bring as a group
something quite removed from statistics to the
stage: the soul of the city. This contradiction,
which is not really a contradiction, already interested the Swiss playwright Max Frisch. He puts
the following words into the mouth of Homo
Faber: “I don’t need any mystical explanation for
the occurrence of the improbable; mathematics
explains it adequately, as far as I’m concerned...
The probable (...) and the improbable (...) are not
different in kind but only in frequency, whereby
the frequent appears a priori more probable. But
the occasional occurrence of the improbable does
not imply the intervention of a higher power,
something in the nature of a miracle, as the layman is so ready to assume.”
Are the diversity and the uniqueness of the City
of Zurich shown to full advantage in the “100%
Zurich” project? The 100 experts of everyday life
show the pulse of the city of Zurich to full advantage. The differences between the cities where
the 100% performance has already been brought
to the stage are clearly visible in the videos and
the essence and special character of the selected
city is can be felt in each case.
How do you feel when you go on stage?
Excited, curious and open. Even the rehearsals
with the other 99 participants and getting to
know each other was very inspiring. Professionally I’m probably the one who is most involved
with statistics. Seeing the other performers’ perspectives and drawing my own conclusions from
them was a great experience I took away from
this.
Verena Hirsch is head of the Communication Section, FSO
Simone Nuber is the director of the Zurich Statistics Office
100% Zürich puts a face to the random sample – photo Pigi Psimenou.
26
FSO ValueS
The Importance of Statistics in Biology
In reference to the topic “borders” of this edition of ValueS, we invited Maarten Voordouw to provide us insight
on how statistics became a powerful tool in biology and medicine, in particular as applied to his research on
the evolution and ecology of tick-borne diseases. Maarten Voordouw
T
here is an intimate relationship between
statistics and biology that dates back to
the start of the 20th century. At this time
scientists had generally accepted Darwin’s theory
of evolution but there was a big debate between
two groups regarding the nature of biological
variation and evolutionary change. On the one
hand, mutationists believed that evolutionary
change occurred in sudden jumps that were
driven by new mutations that followed Mendel’s
laws of genetics. On the other hand, the gradualists, led by the statistician Karl Pearson, believed
that evolutionary change was gradual and that
it was driven by natural selection operating on
continuous variation that was already present in
most biological populations.
Mathematical framework for theory of evolution
Sir Ronald Fisher, an English biologist and statistician, eventually unified these two opposing
points of view by realising that the discrete nature of Mendelian genetics could account for the
continuous variation in quantitative traits (such
as human height) if one imagined that there
were many genes influencing such traits. Fisher
developed the field of population genetics, which
gave the theory of evolution a firm mathematical
framework. Many of his great contributions to
statistics came from his interest in biology, genetics and evolution. For example, Fisher invented
the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to partition
variation in quantitative traits into a genetic and
an environmental component (the original nature
vs. nurture debate). Today, ANOVA is taught in all
first year statistics courses and is used by scientists
in all disciplines. Fisher also wrote some of the
first books on experimental design, in which he
emphasized the importance of replication, randomisation, and controls thereby revolutionising
the way in which experiments were conducted
in biology.
Increasing importance for larger data sets
As a biologist, Maarten Voordouw frequently
uses statistics to interpret data objectively and
sensitively. His research at the University of
Neuchâtel is currently focused on the evolution and ecology of tick-borne diseases such as
Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis. Tickborne diseases always include three players: the
pathogen that causes the disease, the host that
harbours the pathogen (usually a wild animal like
a rodent or a bird), and the tick that transmits
the pathogen from host to host. Various questions arise in this context, for example: How do
the frequencies of the different types of bacteria
that cause Lyme disease change over time in the
tick population? How does the immune system
of the natural host (rodent) influence the rate of
pathogen transmission to feeding ticks? Can tickborne pathogens influence the behaviour of the
tick so that it chooses the right host? In all these
questions they are interested in the processes that
create and maintain biological variation and how
this biological variation in turn can shape evolutionary change. Statistics are an indispensable
tool that enable biologists to describe the variation in the natural world in mathematical form.
As scientists gather ever larger data sets, statistics
become increasingly important for making sense
of all this information.
Maarten Voordouw is assistant professor in the Institute
of Biology at the University of Neuchâtel
FSO ValueS
27
Imprint
Published by: Federal Statistical Office (FSO)
Neuchâtel, www.statistics.admin.ch
Editors: Verena Hirsch, Cornelia Neubacher
und Ulrich Sieber, Communication and
Dissemination, FSO
Enquiries: Communication section,
Tel. 032 713 60 13, Email: kom@bfs.admin.ch
Authors: Martial Berset, Maurizio Bigotta, Oscar
Gonzalez, Armin Grossenbacher, Martina Guggisberg,
Verena Hirsch, Thomas Kalau, Fabio B. Losa, Jürg
Marti, Ruth Meier, Walter Pavel, Fabienne Rausa,
Maarten Voordouw
Layout concept: Netthoevel & Gaberthuel, Biel
Layout: Nicole Frischknecht, DIAM section,
Prepress / Print, FSO
Graphic: Daniel von Burg, DIAM section, FSO
Photography: Katharina Lütscher, Zurich
Translation: FSO Language Services
Order number: 1215-1202 (free of charge)
ISBN: 978-3-303-00478-4
Distribution: Federal Statistical Office,
CH-2010 Neuchâtel, Tel. 032 713 60 60,
Fax 032 713 60 61, Email: order@bfs.admin.ch
Copyright: FSO, Neuchâtel 2012
Copying of text and graphics permitted – except for
commercial purposes – provided source reference
is given.