Credit Suisse has announced the release of its Locational Quality Indicator annual study for 2020 that looks into the locational quality of Swiss cantons and regions.
The annual Locational Quality Indicator (LQI) was developed in order to measure the attractiveness of the Swiss regions and cantons from a business perspective.
Zug thanks to a recent cut in corporate taxes lies in top place not only in terms of the tax index for natural persons but also the tax burden for legal entities: the effective maximum rate for corporate income tax in the city of Zug is now 11.91% (vs. 14.35% in 2019).
Tax policy is a key element of locational trends, but in knowledge-intensive areas of the economy, highly qualified employees are the key factor of production.
The level of education among the Swiss labour force has increased significantly in recent decades, according to the economists at Credit Suisse; however, there is evidence of a town/country divide in terms of the availability of highly skilled workers. Over 40% of potential employees in urban regions and their immediate agglomerations, and as many as 57% in the city of Zurich, have a degree from a university, university of applied sciences, or higher school. The proportion in rural areas is less than 25%. Furthermore the analysis by the Credit Suisse economists shows that incoming commuters usually have a higher level of education than local residents.