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Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship brings international visiting researcher to UniDistance Suisse

Shaun Yajima Watanabe, a PhD candidate in Economic History at the University of Tokyo and TU Bergakademie Freiberg, has been awarded the prestigious Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship. From September 2026, he will spend one year as a visiting researcher at the Faculty of History at UniDistance Suisse, where he will collaborate with Prof. Dr Sabine Pitteloud.

Through the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships, the Swiss Confederation supports international researchers undertaking research stays in Switzerland. Shaun Yajima Watanabe has been awarded one of these scholarships and has chosen UniDistance Suisse as the host institution for his research stay.

How the media constrained the power of cartels

During his stay, Shaun Yajima Watanabe will focus on completing his doctoral dissertation in Economic History, provisionally entitled «The Fourth Estate against Market Power: How the Media Disciplined Cartels in Germany, 1890–1914». His dissertation examines the role of the mass media and the public sphere in scrutinising industrial cartels and constraining their power in Germany between 1890 and 1914.

His research explores how public debate could influence powerful corporate actors. In doing so, it contributes to a broader understanding of how the media can act as a mechanism of corporate accountability and economic governance. 

New Swiss-Japanese research collaboration

Alongside his doctoral research, Shaun Yajima Watanabe will use his time at UniDistance Suisse to develop a joint Swiss-Japanese research project with Prof. Dr Sabine Pitteloud on the history of business regulation «from below». The project seeks to examine the role and agency of business actors, such as corporate lawyers and consultants, in the emergence and development of regulation, while fostering new academic exchanges between Switzerland and Japan.

For Sabine Pitteloud, the research stay offers considerable potential for collaboration over the coming year and beyond:

We are very pleased that Shaun Yajima Watanabe chose UniDistance Suisse for his research stay in Switzerland and warmly congratulate him on being awarded this highly selective scholarship. 

«The award highlights the originality and relevance of his research on cartel regulation and the role of the media in constraining corporate monopoly power. These are timely topics that align particularly well with our expertise in the history of capitalism, the global history of Switzerland and law at UniDistance Suisse. I see considerable potential for collaboration in the medium and longer term, including the organization of interdisciplinary workshops and the development of a joint Swiss-Japanese research project.»

Further joint activities are therefore planned in the medium term, including interdisciplinary workshops and the development of the Swiss-Japanese research project. In line with the Faculty of History’s commitment to internationalisation, the one-year research stay will foster intellectual exchange and open up new avenues for collaboration.

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