Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics

The Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES) (German: Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik (SGVS), French: Société suisse d'économie et de statistique (SSES); Italian: Società svizzera di economia e di statistica (SSES)) is a Swiss learned society for economics and an association comprising all Swiss universities with faculties of economics,^[1] based in Zurich.^[2] Kurt Schmidheiny from the University of Basel serves as the current president of the SSES.^[3] The society is a member of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences [de].^[4] The SSES holds an ex officio position on the executive council of the Verein für Socialpolitik.^[5] The society publishes the Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, an open-access peer-reviewed academic journal.^[6]

History

The society was founded in 1864^[7] as the Swiss Statistical Society (German: Schweizerische Statistische Gesellschaft, (SSG)).^[8] In 1937, it changed its name to the Swiss Society for Statistics and Economics (German: Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Statistik und Volkswirtschaft, (SGSV)).^[9] In 2001, the name was slightly altered to the Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (German: Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik, (SGVS)).^[8][10]

The topics discussed at the annual meetings of the SSES are regularly covered in Swiss newspapers.^[11] These meetings attract figures in municipal, cantonal, and federal government in Switzerland, alongside economists and scientists from Switzerland and abroad.^[12] Past topics have included the industrialisation of Switzerland,^[13] full employment and the right to work,^[14][15] population dynamics and the social position of women,^[16] competition,^[12] dirigisme and regulation,^[17][18] and the European debt crisis.^[19]

The SSES gives several annual awards,^[20] including an Economic Journalism Award for journalists.^[21][22]

Presidents

The following persons have been presidents:^{[23][24][25][26]}

• 1864—1866: Johann Ludwig Spyri
• 1866—1871: Ludwig Kurz
• 1871—1876: Constant Bodenheimer
• 1877—1886: Hermann Kinkelin
• 1886—1913: Johann Jakob Kummer [de]
• 1913—1919: Edmund Wilhelm Milliet [de]
• 1920—1925: Fritz Mangold [de]
• 1926: Hans Schorer
• 1927—1930: William Rappard
• 1931—1934: Eugen Grossmann
• 1934—1937: Paul Victor Keller
• 1938—1941: Carl Brüschweiler [de]
• 1941—1944: Ernst Ackermann [de]
• 1944—1947: Hugo Gschwind [de]
• 1947—1949: Paul-René Rosset
• 1949—1952: Théo Keller [de]
• 1952—1954: Eugen Böhler [de]
• 1954—1957: Jean Golay
• 1957—1960: Walter Adolf Jöhr [de]
• 1960—1963: Frédéric Scheurer
• 1963—1966: Wilhelm Martin Bickel [de]
• 1966—1969: Pierre Goetschin
• 1969—1970: Hugo Sieber [de]
• 1972—1975: Luigi Solari
• 1975—1978: Kurt Steuber
• 1978—1981: Silvio Borner [de]
• 1981—1984: Pietro Balestra
• 1984—1987: Kurt Schiltknecht
• 1987—1989: Jacques Pasquier-Dorthe
• 1990—1993: René Leo Frey [de]
• 1993—1996: Claude Jeanrenaud
• 1996—1999: Ernst Baltensperger [de]
• 1999—2001: Georg Rich
• 2002—2005: Alexandre Swoboda
• 2006—2008: Peter Kugler
• 2008—2011: Gebhard Kirchgässner [de]
• 2011—2013: Philippe Bacchetta [de]
• 2014—2017: Monika Bütler [de]
• 2017—2020: Yvan Michel Lengwiler
• 2020—2023: Dirk Niepelt [de]
• 2023—present: Kurt Schmidheiny

Notable members

• Johannes Stössel^[24]