Education
PhD University of St.Gallen (1997)
Licentiate in Economics, University of St.Gallen (1994)
Diploma in Mathematics/Physics, University of Zürich (1989)
Current Positions
• Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of St.Gallen (2004-),
part time (50%) from 2015
• Director, Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research (2008-)
• President Board of Management Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research,
SIAW-HSG (2011-)
• Weiterbildungskommission University of St.Gallen (Executive School, 2011-)
• Scientific Council, Center for Disability and Integration CDI-HSG (2009-)
Non-academic
• Bank Council (Bankrat) Swiss National Bank (2010-)
• Board of directors (non-executive member) Schindler Holding AG (2013-)
• Board of directors (non-executive member) Huber & Suhner AG (2014-)
• Deputy Chairman, Gebert Rüf Stiftung (2017-)
Major Past Positions (Economics)
• Dean School of Economics and Political Science SEPS (2009-2013)
• Visiting Professor, University of Auckland (2013)
• Visiting Professor, University of New South Wales, Sydney (2008, 2011, 2014)
• Advisor, The World Bank, Washington (2004-2006)
• Full Professor, Université de Lausanne (2001–2004)
• Assistant Professor, Université de Lausanne (1999–2001)
• Assistant Professor (tenure track), CentER & Department of Economics, Tilburg University, the Netherlands
(1997–2001)
Approved research projects (since 2013)
• Household Finances and Housing Markets (SNF Project, together with Martin Brown, Winfried Koeniger, Roland
Fuess), 2017-2019.
• The Swiss Confederation: A Natural Laboratory for Research on Fiscal and Political Decentralization (SNF
Sinergia Project, together with Marius Brülhart, Mario Jametti and Kurt Schmidheiny), 2011-2017.
• Federal Social Insurance Office, Pilot Project Seed Capital (with Michael Lechner), 2009-2013
Supervision of junior researchers at graduate and postgraduate level
Alma Ramsden (now at INTERFACE), Katharina Hofer (UBS), Christian Martin (BAG), Lukas Inderbitzin (Deloitte), Stefan Staubli (Associate Professor University of Calgary), Conny Wunsch (co-supervision, Professor Universität Basel), David Dorn (co-supervision, Professor University of Zürich), Michel Maréchal (Associate Professor University of Zürich), Olivia Huguenin (BfS)
Teaching activities
Principles of Macroeconomics (since 1998, Tilburg University, Université de Lausanne, University of Zürich)
Courses in Public Economics and Finance at all levels (same universities)
Courses in Information Economics and Economic Journalism (St. Gallen)
Scientific reviewing activities and boards
Senior Editor The Journal of Pension Economics and Finance (2010-)
Chair Scientific Council Netspar, the Netherlands, https://www.netspar.nl/en/
Fellowships
• Research Fellow, CESifo München (2001-)
• ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), University of New South Wales, Australia
(Associated Investigator)
Conferences (co-)organized (since 2013)
• Swiss Society for Economics and Statistics, St. Gallen, June 2018 (160 particip.)
• OECD/INPARR Pension Conference, Paris, June 2018 (200 participants),
June 2017 (200 participants), June 2016 (150 participants)
• IIPF international Congress, Lugano August 2014 (500 participants)
• Netspar „International Workshop on Pensions“, Venice, June 2013 (100 participants); Amsterdam, January 2014
(120 participants); Frankfurt, June 2013 (100 participants); Amsterdam, January 2013 (120 participants)
Major Awards and Honors (since 2013)
• Keynote, Cherry Blossom Financial Education Institute, Washington, 2019.
• Honorary doctorate, University of Luzern, November 2018 (honouring internationally recognised work in the field
of economic and social policy).
• Thünen Lecture, Verein für Socialpolitik, Wien, September 2017
The Thünen Lecture is given at the invitation of a commission of the Executive Council and honors distinguished
members of the Verein and their academic achievements (first female recipient)
Major Scientific Achievements
• Supervision and mentoring:
Four of my (co-)supervised PhD students are now full or associate professors at excellent universities. I acted as
a mentor for a number of female junior faculty and PhD students, also during my time as a Dean.
• Research:
o My paper with Heinz Hauser: “The WTO Dispute Settlement System: A First Assessment from an Economic
Perspective” (Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 16(2), 2000). Provided the first empirical analysis
of the WTO Dispute Settlement System, using a hand-collected dataset. The paper wasreprinted in books.
o My research on the determinants of annuitization of pension wealth at retirement provided the first extensive
data set and empirical analysis of this important choice (known as the annuity puzzle in the literature). All
the data (from Swiss pension providers) is hand collected and unique. The first published paper of the
project: „The Choice Between an Annuity and a Lump-Sum: Results from Swiss Pension Funds“, (with
Federica Teppa, Journal of Public Economics, 2007) has been widely cited and used as a base for economic
policy discussions in countries like Australia and the Netherlands).
o My recent research on transparency in parliamentary decision making (a project with Christine Benesch and
Katharina E. Hofer) provided the first causal analysis of the impact of higher transparency of voting decisions
on the behavior of legislators. The first paper, published in the Journal of Public Economics (2018)), already
made it on the curricula of courses in political economics and political science.
• Outreach:
A number of my research activities (published in peer-reviewed journals) had an impact on economic policy. I
consider it as an important duty to bridging the gap between scientific work and societal impact (through public
lectures, media contributions and hearings with policy makers).
• On a more exotic note (and more long-term):
My very first research project (as a Mathematician/Physicist), a numerical avalanche forecasting tool is still in use
in a number of countries (published as „Avalanche forecast by the nearest neighbor method“, (with Othmar Buser
and Walter Good), International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 162, Seiten 557-570)
MONIKA BÜTLER Publications (since 2013)
Publications in Refereed Academic Journals
• „Transparency in parliamentary voting.“ (with Christine Benesch and Katharina
E. Hofer. Journal of Public Economics (2018).
• „Economists: moral realists or real moralists? Comment on Fourcade and
Brunetti“, Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics 2018
• „How Much Do Means-Tested Benefits Reduce the Demand for Annuitites?“,
(with Kim Peijnenburg and Stefan Staubli), Journal of Pension Economics
and Finance, 2017 (Lead Article)
• «Alterssicherung zwischen Zwang, Paternalismus und Wahlfreiheit», Thünen Vorlesung,
Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 2017
• „Ready to Reform: How Popular Initiatives Can Be Successful „, (with Katharina
Jaronicki & Christian), European Journal of Political Economy, 2017.
• “Lessons from a Randomized Field Experiment“, (with Eva Deuchert. Michael
Lechner, Stefan Staubli und Petra Thiemann, IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 2015.
• “Introduction to the special issue on Redesigning the Welfare State for Aging
Societies” (with Kerstin Schneider), International Tax and Public Finance 08/2015; 22(4).
• „How Much Does Annuity Demand React to a Large Price Change?“, (with Stefan Staubli and Maria Grazia Zito),
Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2013
Contributions to Books
• “Financial Literacy”, in 21st Century Economics. Economic Ideas You Should
Read and Remember, forthcoming, Springer
• «(Un) Productive Labor» in Economic Ideas You Should Forget, 2017 – Springer“
• Versicherungen, Informationen und personalisierte Medizin” in Personalisierte
Medizin: Hoffnung oder leeres Versprechen, Isabel Klusman & Effy Vayena,
Hochschulverlag ETH Zürich (2016)
• „Insights from Switzerland’s Pension System“, in „Reimagining Pensions: The
Next 40 Years“ edited by Olivia Mitchell, and Richard Shea, Oxford University Press, 2016.
Selected Completed and Submitted Working Papers
• „Increasing Risk Aversion: The Consequences of the Financial Crisis on
Retirement Behavior „, (with Alma Ramsden), mimeo, University of St. Gallen (2018).
• “Pricing Annuities: The role of Taxation in Retirement Decisions”, (with Alma
Ramsden), mimeo, University of St. Gallen (2018).
Outreach activities
Co-founder, editor and regular contributor to blog batz.ch
Numerous articles, interviews (TV, radio, newspapers), statements and citations of published research or public speeches.
General contributions to science
Co-initiator of INPARR (International Network on Pension, Ageing and Retirement Research; OECD, Netspar, PRC Wharton, CEPAR Sydney)
Personal Information
Born , 1961 in Brugg (AG, Switzerland)
Swiss citizen (Auw AG)
Married to Urs Birchler, 2 children
Languages: German (mother tongue), English, French, Italian, Dutch
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http://www.sew.unisg.ch/en / https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/persons/Monika_Buetler
Twitter @batzmonika, Blog: http://www.batz.ch