Ongoing research projects
Ongoing research projects
(SNSF-funded project, grant no. 10.003.941, CHF 861’304, 2025-2029)
The project examines how political parties in Western democracies politicize the issue of health. For a long time, health was seen as a non-partisan "valence issue", but it is increasingly debated along both economic and cultural conflict lines – for example, in the context of identity politics or environmental issues. The aim is to clarify (1) to what extent parties politicize health, (2) whether this politicization aligns with voter preferences, and (3) whether it contributes to polarization. Methodologically, the project combines content analyses of over 2,600 election manifestos from 25 countries since the 1960s with survey data and experiments in four countries. It provides new insights into ideological conflict lines and the polarization of health policy.
Team members: Victoria Haerter (postdoc) + PhD student
(2024-ongoing)
This project examines health policy preferences of individuals in high-income countries in a context of rising health care costs. Based on surveys in Switzerland, Canada, Denmark and Germany in 2024, we use observational and experimental data to analyse when citizens prioritise health care over other social policy areas, support cost containment measures, prefer public health investments over curative care, and support efforts to reduce health inequalities.
Health care as social investment? Public opinion on trade-offs between curative and preventive care in four OECD countries (revise & resubmit)
Responding to Growing Health Care Costs: Public Preferences in Four OECD Countries (under review)
Cost-sharing in Healthcare Systems: A Conjoint Experiment on Public Preferences (conference paper)
In collaboration with Sharon Baute, Marius Busemeyer and Olivier Jacques
(2022-ongoing)
This project uses combines novel firm-level and employee-level surveys in Denmark to study how AI adoption at the workplace shapes risk perceptions and policy preferences among managers and workers. It moves beyond traditional automation concerns to examine how AI exposure creates both job-related (egotropic) and societal (sociotropic) risks. We then explore how these AI-based risks translate into political preferences, not only support for compensation, but also regulation, social investment and retraining. A first paper on Danish firm managers' AI risk perceptions and policy preferences has been published in Social Policy & Administration.
In collaboration with Kees van Kersbergen and Leon Küstermann
Non-health-related:
Winning with Equality: How Left-wing Parties Attract Votes but Amplify Electoral Cleavages (with Alexander Horn and Carsten Jensen, revise & resubmit)
Why Some Want Something for Nothing: Three Explanations for Unfunded Spending Demand (with Silke Goubin, Olivier Jacques, and Staffan Kumlin, revise & resubmit)
Income Decline and the Political Backlash Against Advanced Welfare States (with Olivier Jacques and Tim Vlandas, under review)
The dynamics of financial insecurity and voting for the populist right and left in Europe (with Lorenza Antonucci and Roberta Di Stefano)
Inflation and voting (with Sarah Engler)
Striving for equality or resenting the status quo? Unfairness perceptions and voting behavior (with Leo Ahrens)
Liberalization and income inequality: A comparative analysis (1976-2013) (with Klaus Armingeon)
Permanent Income and Electoral Realignment
Health-related:
Health Systems in Transition (HiT) - Switzerland (with Stefan Boes, Stéfanie Monod, Luca Crivelli, Carlo de Pietro, and Sarah Mantwill)
Hospital Closures and Local Voting Behaviour (with Ronja Stahl)
Socioeconomic inequalities in employment trajectories following a cancer diagnosis: A study of 29 European countries (with Isabelle Fischer & Katharina Roser)
Disability severity transitions in the Swiss ageing population: Secondary analysis of the Swiss version of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) using multistate models (with Jsabel Hodel, et al.)
Socio-Demographic Predictors of Health Insurance Literacy Among Young Adults in Switzerland: Insights from a Knowledge Survey (with Joëlle Trüb)
Perceived Inequality, Social Connection, and Mental Health (with Andrew Gloster)
Population Participation in Health Policy Decision-Making: Perspectives of the Population and Stakeholders in Switzerland (with Nelly Sénac)