Predoctoral Research Associate in Economics (m/w/d)

About the job

The Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research, or SIAW-HSG for short, has around 40 employees and is one of the university's 36 institutes. Our focus is on foreign trade, macroeconomics, taxation and social systems, public economics, environmental economics and insurance. We are responsible for research, teaching and services in our fields and train young talent for research and the interface between science and practice.

The Chair of Macroeconomics and Public Finance at the University of St. Gallen is inviting applications for a full-time Predoctoral Research Associate (100%). The position offers an excellent opportunity for highly motivated students to gain hands-on research experience before pursuing a PhD. The successful candidate will work closely with Prof. Dominik Sachs and his team on empiri-cal, computational, and theoretical projects in macroeconomics and public economics.

• Start date: Ideally in December 2025, but flexible - later start dates (e.g. early 2026) are also possible. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
• Duration: Flexible - typically until summer 2026 or summer 2027, depending on circumstances. Shorter appointments (e.g. 6 months) are also possible.

Responsibilities and Projects
Research tasks will include data work (collection, cleaning, analysis), coding, and documentation. Projects include, among others:
 
CO₂ and inequality:

• Computation of household carbon footprints
• Analysis of household carbon footprints along the income distribution and over time
• Evaluation of the effects of carbon pricing on inequality

Dynamic elasticities of taxation:

• Coding of an LLM to systematically document cantonal tax systems in Switzerland and identify tax reforms
• Coding of a microsimulation model of Swiss income taxes
• Working with large administrative data sources 

 
Applicants may also contribute to other ongoing research projects at the Chair. For an overview, please consult Prof. Dominik Sachs and Lehrstuhl Prof. Dominik Sachs . The first website also lists many completed projects, which give a good impression of the type of research pursued in the research group.
 

 

• Master's degree in economics, public policy, statistics, mathematics, or a related field (exceptionally, an outstanding Bachelor's degree may suffice)
• Strong interest in public economics, macroeconomics, taxation, and applied empirical research
• Solid training in econometrics and quantitative methods
• Experience with statistical software (e.g. Stata, Python, R, Matlab); willingness to deepen programming skills
• High motivation and ability to work independently as well as in a small team
• Existing work permit

"A place where knowledge is created" - As one of Europe's leading universities of economics and business administration, the University of St.Gallen (HSG), Switzerland, is committed to the education of over 10'000 students. The HSG is one of the largest employers in the region and provides an attractive and innovative environment for more than 3'500 researchers, educators and professional staff.