Research

Work in progress

Global Spillovers of Taxation in the Online Advertising Market. Theory and Evidence from Facebook (with Federica Liberini, Antonio Russo, Ángel Cuevas and Rubèn Cuevas). Received NET Institute grant in summer 2017. Abstract: We analyze the effect of corporate taxes on multinational digital platforms and the online advertising market. Using a novel dataset of Facebook advertising prices and user product preferences, we show that an increase in the platform's corporate tax rate in several countries had a sizeable effect on advertising prices therein. The increase spills over to other countries due to the platform's two-sided, multinational structure. This result is consistent with our theoretical model, which shows that, due to consumers' limited tolerance for ads, the platform reduces the supply of ads to advertisers located in countries where the corporate tax increases. Link

Decomposing the Margins of Transfer Pricing (with Benedikt Rydzek and Sarah Lein). Abstract: This paper examines the determinants and margins of profit shifting through transferpricing. We develop a theory model, where transfer pricing patterns are governed by a generalized concealment cost function (CCF). Our empirical analysis draws on micro-level data about transaction-level imports, firm-level characteristics, and tax differentials between regions in Switzerland and countries abroad. We find that more productive multinational enterprises (MNEs) deviate less from the arms’ length price and trade lower quantities, compared to MNEs with lower productivity. Moreover, the decision of firms to engage in transfer pricing depends negatively on a fixed cost component in the CCF, as well as trade costs. The model allows us to estimate a theory-consistent concealment cost function, which can be used for counterfactual analysis. Working paper here

Skills and Multinational Production (with Christian Volpe Martincus). Abstract: In this paper, we provide new evidence on the role of human capital in attracting FDI. In particular, we examine whether English proficiency and digital skills lead to increased presence of multinational firms. To do so, we combine data on multinational firms' foreign subsidiaries worldwide and data on English proficiency and digital skills of possible host countries' populations. Our estimates suggest that both factors have a positive and significant effect on economies' participation in multinational production: countries whose population have higher English proficiency and digital skills attract more multinational firms.

Servitization and the impact of trade policy on global value chains (with Shiyun Hu). Abstract:

Crissing the Crosses: On Yardstick Competition Among Christian Churches (with Peter Egger and Marko Koethenbuerger).

Peer-reviewed articles

Immigration and Firms' Integration in International Production Networks. European Economic Review 111, 1-34, 2019 (joint with Peter Egger and Katharina Erhardt). Link 

Backward Participation in Global Value Chains and Exchange Rate Driven Adjustments of Swiss Exports. Review of World Economics 154 (3), 537-584, 2018 (joint with Dario Fauceglia, Anirudh Shingal and Martin Wermelinger). Funded by SECO, Studien zu globalen Wertschöpfungsketten und deren Bedeutung für die Schweiz.

The impact of common native language and immigration on imports. The World Economy 41 (7), 1903-1916, 2018 (joint with Peter Egger). Link

Income Taxes, Sorting, and the Costs of Housing: Evidence from Municipal Boundaries in Switzerland. The Economic Journal 127 (601), 571-872, 2017 (joint with Christoph Basten and Maximilian von Ehrlich). Awarded the 2014 IIPF Peggy and Richard Musgrave Prize. Link   

The Causal Impact of Common Native Language on International Trade: Evidence from a Spatial Regression Discontinuity Design. The Economic Journal 125 (584), 699-745, 2015 (joint with Peter Egger). Link  

Productivity and R&D as Drivers of Exports and Domestic Sales: Semiparametric Evidence from French Firm-level Data. The World Economy 38 (7), 1115-1129, 2015 (joint with Peter Egger and Katharina Erhardt). Link 

Revisiting Native and Immigrant Entrepreneurial Activity. Small Business Economics 45 (4), 841-873, 2015 (joint with Christian Busch). Link 

The Language Effect in International Trade. Economics Letters 116 (2), 221-224, 2012 (joint with Peter Egger). In the media: Business à la française (by Simon Kuper), Financial Times, March 8, 2013. Link 

Armington Product Variety Growth in Small versus Large Countries. Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics 145 (4), 411-419, 2009 (joint with Peter Egger and Martin Gassebner). Link 

Selected policy reports

Gender Gaps, Services Trade and Policy Tools to Contribute to Gender Equality. Gender, Social Inclusion and Trade Knowledge Product Series, 2021 (joint with Nanno Mulder). 

Services Trade and Labour Market Outcomes in the United Kingdom. OECD Trade Policy Papers, No. 243, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2020 (joint with Francesca Spinelli). Link

Services Trade and Labour Market Outcomes. OECD Trade Policy Papers, No. 239, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2020. Link

Backward Participation in Global Value Chains and Exchange Rate Driven Adjustments of Swiss Exports. Strukturberichterstattung Nr. 53/2, study on behalf of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, 2014 (joint with D. Fauceglia, A. Shingal and M. Wermelinger). 

Exchange Rate Transmission and Export Activity at the Firm Level, KOF Working Papers No. 311 (2013). In the media: "Exporteure in Wind und Wetter" (by Beat Gygi), Neue Zürcher Zeitung, April 4, 2013. Working paper here. 

AIECE General Report Submitted to the Spring 2012 General Meeting of the Association of European Conjuncture Institutes. KOF Studies, 33, Zurich, April 2012 (joint with A. Frick, J. Hartwig, H. Mikosch, S. Neuwirth and T. Süllow).

Swiss Electricity Trade: An Analysis of the Multivariate Relationships and a Short-term Forecasting Model. Proceedings of the 5th European Electricity Market Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, May 28-30 2008 (joint with E. Atukeren and Y. Abrahamsen).

Book Contributions 

Immigration and International Trade. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, 2023 (joint with Katharina Erhardt). Link

Cultural Integration and Export Variety Overlap Across Countries. In M. Gazzola and B.-A. Wickström (Eds.), The Economics of Language Policy. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2016 (joint with Peter Egger). Link