Bachelor thesis

Is it economically and socially pertinent to extend shops opening hours in the retail sector in the Canton of Geneva ?

SONAR|HES-SO

    2014

2 vol.

Mémoire de bachelor: Haute école de gestion de Genève, 2014

English Liberalization of shops opening hours is the topic linked to retail that is the most present in political discussions. It is a complex issue that is often negotiated between trade unions and employers who each hold different positions and protect different interests. For this reason, progresses are slow and contentious. Various aspects are regularly brought forward in the discussion such as the needs of the consumers, the working conditions of the employees or the competitiveness of the country. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether it is pertinent to extend shops opening hours in the Canton of Geneva. Available literature on the matter and the current situation in Switzerland and Geneva are analysed in order to understand the dynamics behind this question and the aspects that need to be considered when looking at shops opening hours. In order to have better insights on the issue, interviews with professionals in the field have been conducted and consumer surveys have been distributed. It results from this research that there is a desire to extend shops opening hours and thus liberalize the cantonal law on opening hours. However, Switzerland is not yet ready to become a 24 hours society. The Swiss have a certain set of values and wish to preserve the health of the population by preventing the creation of a society that never rests and in which people get overstressed. Neither the consumers nor the employers want shops running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, there is a clear willingness to liberalize the law up to certain limits in order to gain in flexibility and better balance the influx of people in the shops over the week. Indeed, the bigger trading day currently is on Saturday as many people do not have the time to shop during the week. A slight extension in the evening would thus allow to spread people better and avoid a stressing peak on Saturday. In case of real change in the legislation, artful communication, proper organisation and sharp controls would be necessary in order to gain in efficiency and reduce at most the burden on the employees in the retail industry.
Language
  • English
Classification
Economics
Notes
  • Haute école de gestion Genève
  • Economie d'entreprise
  • hesso:hegge
License
License undefined
Identifiers
  • RERO DOC 232878
  • RERO R007932897
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/314469
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