Debt containment rules in the era of true and fair accounting : fiscal leeway between hammer and anvil

Deviations from modern public sector accounting principles and standards are potentially politically motivated. To avoid jeopardizing adherence to the institutionalized self-constraining debt brake mechanisms, financial flexibility is aimed to be preserved in the institutional framework governing public finances. This paper elaborates and discusses potential tensions between debt containment rules and the application of true and fair accounting at the example of three Swiss cantons by building on case-based empirical evidence, which was gained out of semi-structured interviews. Abweichungen gegenüber den heutigen Rechnungslegungsstandards und -prinzipien des öffentlichen Gemeinwesens sind potentiell politisch motiviert. Um die Einhaltung der selbst auferlegten Schuldenbremsen nicht zu gefährden, ist man versucht finanzpolitischen Spielraum zu bewahren und den institutionellen Rahmen zur Steuerung öffentlicher Finanzen entsprechend zu gestalten und auszurichten. Dieser Beitrag untersucht und diskutiert mögliche Spannungsfelder zwischen Schuldenbremse-Regelungen und der Anwendung von modernen Rechnungslegungsnormen am Beispiel von drei Kantonen

SARS-CoV-2 N501Y Introductions and Transmissions in Switzerland from Beginning of October 2020 to February 2021—Implementation of Swiss-Wide Diagnostic Screening and Whole Genome Sequencing

The rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 lineages B.1.1.7 (N501Y.V1) throughout the UK, B.1.351 (N501Y.V2) in South Africa, and P.1 (B.1.1.28.1; N501Y.V3) in Brazil has led to the definition of variants of concern (VoCs) and recommendations for lineage specific surveillance. In Switzerland, during the last weeks of December 2020, we established a nationwide screening protocol across multiple laboratories, focusing first on epidemiological and microbiological definitions. In January 2021, we validated and implemented an N501Y-specific PCR to rapidly screen for VoCs, which are then confirmed using amplicon sequencing or whole genome sequencing (WGS). A total of 13,387 VoCs have been identified since the detection of the first Swiss case in October 2020, with 4194 being B.1.1.7, 172 B.1.351, and 7 P.1. The remaining 9014 cases of VoCs have been described without further lineage specification. Overall, all diagnostic centers reported a rapid increase of the percentage of detected VOCs, with a range of 6 to 46% between 25 to 31 of January 2021 increasing towards 41 to 82% between 22 to 28 of February. A total of 739 N501Y positive genomes were analysed and show a broad range of introduction events to Switzerland. In this paper, we describe the nationwide coordination and implementation process across laboratories, public health institutions, and researchers, the first results of our N501Y-specific variant screening, and the phylogenetic analysis of all available WGS data in Switzerland, that together identified the early introduction events and subsequent community spreading of the VoCs

Co-creating value between PFM institutions: an integrated approach towards financial sustainability

Over the last decades fiscal deficits and public debt among OECD countries increased drastically. In this context instruments fostering fiscal discipline have been promoted to restore the financial situation and to ensure sustainability in public spending policy in order to preserve future service delivery capacity (IMF, 2009). The theoretical fundaments justifying fiscal discipline have been originally developed by public choice scholars like Buchanan (1958, 1964, 1991) with his well-known golden rule of public finance or like Tollison and Wagner (1987), who advocated fiscal/budget rules in order to contain the government size. While most literature focuses on fiscal performance in the presence of fiscal rules (Yerly, 2013; Alesina, Hausmann, Hommes & Stein, 1999) or the analysis of different design options (Yerly, 2013), only few authors consider the accounting dimension and technical aspects despite the fact that fiscal rules (debt breaks) usually build on accrual accounting information (Bergmann, 2012). Yet, this connection was subject of research concerned with the rise of creative accounting and fiscal gimmickry in the presence of fiscal rules (Von Hagen & Wolff, 2006; Koen & Van den Noord, 2005; Milesi-Ferretti, 2003), which was inspired by political economy literature advocating that politicians and public decision makers have a strong incentive to embellish budget balance (Alesina & Perotti, 1995). Following this avenue of research, this paper serves the illumination of the connection between debt break mechanisms and the adoption of accrual public sector accounting standards and principles in the interface of political economy in the Swiss context. By explicitly considering the technical accounting dimension, this paper develops an integrated conceptual view on well-established Public Financial Management (PFM) institutions and elaborates how their interdependencies can co-create value with regard to the contemporary challenge of fiscal sustainability. Derivation of this integrated view follows an explorative approach, taking into account expert interviews with director level staff from cantonal finance administrations and policy documents, as well as literature from both research areas – public sector accounting and political economy

Rechnungslegungsnormen und Schuldenbremsen in den Schweizer Kantonen : komplementär oder konkurrierend?

Die Umstellung auf die modernen öffentlichen Rechnungslegungsnormen (HRM2, IPSAS) und der damit verstärkte Fokus auf das «True and Fair View»-Prinzip hat ein gewisses Spannungsfeld zwischen der öffentlichen Rechnungslegung und der Einhaltung der kantonalen Schuldenbremsen hervorgerufen. Der Artikel zeigt anhand dreier kantonaler Beispiele (Graubünden, St. Gallen, Zürich) dieses Spannungsfeld auf und diskutiert es

Management of opportunities in public administration and reporting on risks towards stakeholders

In recent years, several risk management standards have been developed and established which highlight the “management of opportunities” (MOO). Although risk management is considered to be part of good governance today, it still focuses mainly on the management of “downside” (or “negative”) risks. Possible explanations may be that: - the standards themselves provide little guidance on how to deal with opportunities; - there is evidence for a risk adverse culture in public administration; - there is a lack of understanding in public administration that risks are also part of innovation; - reporting on risks towards stakeholders as part of good governance is a difficult task for public managers who are acting in a political environment

Increased incidence of sexually transmitted infections in Geneva, Switzerland

BACKGROUND: Focal outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis and gonorrhoea have been reported in the large cities of Western Europe over the past few years. The aim of our study was to determine whether a similar trend is observed in Geneva and the situation with regard to HIV infection. METHODS: We review the incidence of syphilis, gonorrhoea, Chlamydia trachomatis and HIV in Geneva from 1999 to 2004. RESULTS: Figures indicate a steady and sustained increase in the incidence of syphilis, gonorrhoea and Chlamydia trachomatis in Geneva since 1999 that is maintained into 2004. As for HIV, the number of positive testings in Switzerland has stabilised and primary infection figures do not indicate an increase in newly acquired infections in Geneva. CONCLUSION: The situation in Geneva is similar to that observed elsewhere in Western Europe and indicates the need of public health interventions

SARS-CoV-2 N501Y Introductions and Transmissions in Switzerland from Beginning of October 2020 to February 2021—Implementation of Swiss-Wide Diagnostic Screening and Whole Genome Sequencing

The rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 lineages B.1.1.7 (N501Y.V1) throughout the UK, B.1.351 (N501Y.V2) in South Africa, and P.1 (B.1.1.28.1; N501Y.V3) in Brazil has led to the definition of variants of concern (VoCs) and recommendations for lineage specific surveillance. In Switzerland, during the last weeks of December 2020, we established a nationwide screening protocol across multiple laboratories, focusing first on epidemiological and microbiological definitions. In January 2021, we validated and implemented an N501Y-specific PCR to rapidly screen for VoCs, which are then confirmed using amplicon sequencing or whole genome sequencing (WGS). A total of 13,387 VoCs have been identified since the detection of the first Swiss case in October 2020, with 4194 being B.1.1.7, 172 B.1.351, and 7 P.1. The remaining 9014 cases of VoCs have been described without further lineage specification. Overall, all diagnostic centers reported a rapid increase of the percentage of detected VOCs, with a range of 6 to 46% between 25 to 31 of January 2021 increasing towards 41 to 82% between 22 to 28 of February. A total of 739 N501Y positive genomes were analysed and show a broad range of introduction events to Switzerland. In this paper, we describe the nationwide coordination and implementation process across laboratories, public health institutions, and researchers, the first results of our N501Y-specific variant screening, and the phylogenetic analysis of all available WGS data in Switzerland, that together identified the early introduction events and subsequent community spreading of the VoCs

Emerging resistance mutations in PI-naive patients failing an atazanavir-based regimen (ANRS multicentre observational study)

International audienc

Surveillance of HIV-1 primary infections in France from 2014 to 2016: toward stable resistance, but higher diversity, clustering and virulence?

International audienc