The first AlpMacro Conference was held in Grindelwald on 22-24/7/2019. Over three days we saw eight papers and got to know the area of Grindelwald.

We first learned from Ernst Fehr (UZH) about new empirical evidence that relates discount rates to wealth accumulation. Itay Saporta (TAU) followed up by showing us the labor adjustment of Routine workers and discussed the policy implications of mechanisms aimed at combating their employment prospects. Gianluca Violante (Princeton) highlighted the importance of understanding worker poaching by firms’ characteristics and how this helps in understanding workers’ labor market employment evolution and firms growth. David Hemous (UZH) concluded the first day by showing us how firms are more likely to innovate "automation patents" when their clients operate in countries with higher unskilled wages.

Yuriy Gorodnichenko (UC Berkeley) opened the second day of the conference by presenting evidence regarding the impact of inflation expectations on firms behavior in terms of hiring and investment. Josef Zweimüller (UZH) followed up by showing that unemployment insurance reforms in Austria had minor effects on workers’ wages. Gadi Barlevy (Chicago Federal Reserve) explained to us how risk shifting approach by investors alter the implications of government intervention in the presence of asset bubbles. Mathias Hoffman (UZH) concluded the second day by showing us evidence regarding the presence of crowding out of local investment in Germany due to banks financing municipalities expenses.

Our third day was dedicated to networking and the conference participants hiked the Eiger trail. Economics discussions and admiration of the sights characterized this day. Below you can find some photos of the conference.

We are looking forward to the second edition of the Swiss-Alps Macro conference — STAY TUNED!