Foreword
Impact

Patrick Dümmler
“Renationalization and isolationism are the wrong path for our highly connected country. Openness is one of the cornerstones of prosperity, so Switzerland needs preferential trade relationships with Europe and the rest of the world.”

Mario Bonato
“Avenir Suisse didn’t just adopt freedom as a key tenet with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In our freedom index we reveal and compare the consequences of limiting freedom in the cantons every year.”

Sonia Estevez
“Quick access to innovative, high-priced medicines is a major challenge for patients, the pharma industry, and insurers. The FOPH’s current system of fixing prices is outmoded. The valuation models will have to be adjusted.”

Laurenz Grabher
“Practically our whole daily life takes place online. But to make best use of the benefits of digitalization we need a high-performance internet infrastructure. For this reason we have produced a series of blogposts analyzing in depth the economic and political aspects of the ongoing expansion of the fiber optic network.”

Teresa Hug Alonso
“The pandemic showed how important it is to have open borders. Our publication on the free movement of persons demonstrates that this doesn’t just apply on a personal level, but also for the prosperity of Switzerland.”

Eveline Hutter
“Crises put the robustness of our state institutions to the test, but they also create room for new ideas.”

Jürg Müller
“From quarantine and debt to the independence of the SNB, the Covid-19 pandemic has raised many questions. In various publications we have come up with new answers.”

Samuel Rutz
“Stimulus packages are staging an international comeback in the wake of coronavirus. But past experience has shown that this type of program is generally of only very limited use.”

Basil Ammann
“The digital infrastructure is increasingly becoming the backbone of our society. In our publication on 5G we therefore came out firmly in favor of a high-performance mobile infrastructure.”

Jérôme Cosandey
“The pandemic has had consequences for all forms of social insurance: on the expenditure side because of death, (mental) illness, and unemployment, and on the income side because of lower employee contributions and tax revenues.”

Diego Taboada
“An effective prevention policy has to take account of the impact of noncommunicable diseases on the healthcare system without degenerating into paternalism. Companies have an essential role to play.”

Lukas Rühli
«Avenir Suisse hat 2021 in einer umfassenden und sorgfältig aufbereiteten Publikation ökologische wie ökonomische Aspekte des Klimawandels diskutiert und Wege für eine wirkungsvolle Klimapolitik der Schweiz aufgezeigt.»

Lukas Schmid
“Decentralized federalism is a valuable asset, also in times of crisis. As the latest Canton Monitor shows, if the cantons hadn’t had leeway in key areas of pandemic management such as testing, widespread vaccination and crisis organization, Switzerland wouldn’t have survived coronavirus so well.”

Marco Salvi
“We develop strategies for a functioning labor market, more effective integration of women in the workplace, a sustainable social partnership, and a modern and innovative education system.”

Patrick Schnell
“A flexible education system isn’t just a prerequisite for a prospering labor market, but also facilitates social mobility.”

Urs Steiner
“We’re constantly extending our range of communication channels in an attempt to get the insights from our research to as wide an audience as possible. We love meticulously produced books just as much as addressing our audience directly via electronic media.”

Carmen Sopi
“The digital media have increased the possibilities for visual communication enormously. Designing short text formats, videos, and graphics requires just as much care as traditional books.”

Marc Lehmann
“The “headphone generation” demands a feast for the ears, and podcasts are an excellent way for the think tank to reach them with its high-quality content.”

Jelena Apelt
“Social media have revolutionized the way we consume knowledge. They’re a gateway to our research and enable us to address a broad audience via diverse multimedia formats.”

Patrick Leisibach
“The flexible labor market is a big plus point for Switzerland’s competitiveness. We did a comprehensive analysis, however, showing that the regulatory tendencies are getting stronger and stronger. That’s posing a threat to Switzerland’s model for success. It’s time for a rethink to that we can stay successful in a rapidly changing economy.”
Key Figures

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Finances
The 2022 financial year saw infrastructure and operating expenses increase year on year from CHF 590,736 to CHF 886,048. This extraordinary increase is due to the move to the new premises at Puls 5 and the associated costs and investments. Conversely, it was possible to completely write off the interior fittings of the old offices as of 31 December 2021. This reduced depreciation costs from CHF 351,419 to CHF 36,467. Expenses related to programs and research were slightly lower at CHF 332,340 (previous year CHF 377,586), as digital publications made it possible to avoid printing costs. There was a slight increase in expenses for events and investor relations from CHF 120,105 in 2021 to CHF 132,592. Personnel expense, by its nature the most significant item, increased slightly to CHF 4,008,721 from 3,951,555 the previous year. Overall we kept to our CHF 5.5 million budget.

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Communications
The number of appearances at conferences and panels had already increased again in 2021 after the pandemic-related restrictions. In the 2022 reporting year it continued to increase, up by almost a tenth to 177. Thanks to a growing focus on electronic and digital media, Communications was increasingly able to disseminate Avenir Suisse content on our social media platforms. This is reflected in a significant increase in video views and podcast plays, as well as in rising follower numbers on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and the various podcast channels. We deliberately accepted a small decline in website views as a result of this strategic decision. At the same time, the content of our website was organized more clearly and the design was streamlined, meaning we can expect a rebound in visitor frequency in 2023.

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Support Foundation
The Support Foundation is charged with securing sustained funding for Avenir Suisse by way of active fundraising. In the year under review, 13 new donors were acquired, and 28 existing donors renewed their commitment when it came up. A total of 155 companies and private individuals support our activities and thus help us maintain our balanced industry distribution. The members of the support group support the think tank with considerable one-time or recurring contributions.