In the ‘BAK Economic Attractiveness Index’, published for the first time, Zurich, London and Copenhagen scored best out of all the metropolitan regions investigated, while Madrid, Barcelona and Rome ranked lowest. Above all, Zurich has its attractive tax rates, strong capacity for innovation and good accessibility to thank for its top place, while Rome's poor placement is due primarily to Italy's high tax rates and restrictive product market regulations. In the separate ‘BAK Performance Index’, Dublin came top and Berlin bottom in the ranking of all the 192 metropolitan regions studied.

More than anything else, it are the low tax rates for individuals and businesses which tipped the scales in Zurich's favour. In none of the other regions under review is the effective tax burden for employees as low as in Zurich. The city's capacity for innovation also contributed to Zurich's good placement: the number of patents and scientific publications per head of the population is well above the Western European average.

With an index score of 114, London is positioned just behind Zurich (116). London has its comparatively liberal regulation of the product and labour market and its strong capacity for innovation to thank for its second place: the area is home to many good universities. The main reason for London's attractiveness is its above-average continental and outstanding global accessibility: in this respect, London achieved one of the highest scores, boasting Europe's largest airport.

Copenhagen came in third place of all the regions under review (with an index score of 113). A particularly striking feature of this region is its liberal regulations: only the Swiss regions have more liberal labour market laws than Copenhagen, though the latter achieves an absolutely first-class score with respect to product market regulations. Another factor, which contributed to Copenhagen's good overall score, is its capacity for innovation: in particular the number of scientific publications per head of the population is significantly higher than the Western European average.