FSIO Federal Government Research

Federal Government Research refers to the evaluations and research activities of the federal government, whose findings are necessary for the performance of Federal Administration tasks and the implementation of public policies.

Decision-making bases

Federal Government Research carried out within the FSIO provides the scientific bases for the informed design and development of social security policy, as well as for legislative work, activities in connection with the implementation of legal requirements, and the formulation of answers and implementation of parliamentary procedural requests.

Federal Government Research within the FSIO focuses on research and evaluations in four areas:

  • old-age benefits
  • disability/invalidity
  • family, generations and society
  • basics and future development of the social security system

The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation provides a detailed description of the design and function of Federal Government Research.

Current and completed projects are documented in the federal research database ARAMIS.

Methodological pluralism

Federal Government Research is geared towards facilitating policymaking and policy implementation. It tackles topical issues and is policy-, solution- and application-driven. It deploys a variety of research and evaluation methods, including expert interviews, public and implementing authority surveys, as well as statistical analyses and model calculations.

Calls for tender and research publications

The FSIO normally mandates external scientific experts or institutions to carry out its scientific studies. The mandates are usually allotted through a tendering system. Current calls for tender can be seen on the FSIO website. The research projects are monitored by internal and external specialists. Final reports are published as part of the ‘Beiträge zur Sozialen Sicherheit’ series. A related scientific article is also published in ‘Soziale Sicherheit’, the FSIO's online journal.

Evaluations

Federal Government Research activities include evaluations of legal requirements, policy programmes, financial assistance etc. in terms of their design, implementation and impact.

The Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) has compiled a wealth of information on effectiveness reviews and ex-post legislative evaluations.

All FSIO evaluations must comply with the standards set by the Swiss Evaluation society (SEVAL). These define the key principles that serve to strengthen the credibility and quality of evaluations.

Regulatory impact assessments

Regulatory impact assessments (RIA) are an instrument for studying and presenting the social and economic impact of federal bills. The ‘Quick Check’ tool provides an early rough estimate of the impact generated by these legislative proposals. These results inform decisions on the scope of RIA.

Invalidity insurance research programmes

The FSIO runs multiannual research programmes on invalidity and disability, and on the implementation of the Invalidity Insurance Act. The fourth programme (FoP4-IV) is currently under way. Many of the FoP4-IV research projects focus on the evaluation of the 2022 amendment to the InvIA, known as ‘the further development of the IV’ ('WEIV').

Data and documentation

Archive of WiSiER-based research

Eight analyses of the economic well-being of the working- and retirement-age population drew on the WiSiER dataset. At the end of 2023, these data were deleted.