The Progressive Construction of the Swiss Financial Competitive Advantage (1914-1936)

This article aims at explaining how Switzerland succeeded in building a major competitive advantage in the financial sector. From a historical perspective, we show that the period 1914-1936 was decisive in Swiss monetary history, Switzerland moving from a status of minor international financial centre to a major place, with the development of very powerful actors like banks. Hence we highlight that if the banking and financial industry played an important role in this process, such a competitive advantage solidified durably only thanks to a national coalition around the conservation of the value of the Swiss franc. In particular, the industry of goods was at the core of such a coalition. The fetishism of the Swiss franc during this period appears to have been a decisive factor for the financial specialisation of Switzerland.