Publications

This thesis consists of a collection of essays on endogenous merger theory. Essay I: The empirical puzzle why mergers reduce profits, and raise share prices is explained in this essay. If being an "in…

We derive a family of probabilistic choice models including the multinomial logit model, from a microeconomic model in which the decision maker has to make some effort in order to avoid mistakes when…

The purpose of this report is to contribute to the analysis of two questions. Should a merger control system take into account efficiency gains from horizontal mergers, and balance these gains against…

In this paper, a model of product innovation is developed that endogenizes the degree of cooperation. Two opposing forces affect firm profit in an R&D joint venture. Cooperation increases the qual…

Anticompetitive mergers increase competitors' profits, since they reduce competition. Using a model of endogenous mergers, we show that such mergers nevertheless may reduce the competitors' share-pric…

Anticompetitive mergers benefit competitors more than the merging firms. We show that such externalities reduce firms' incentives to merge (a holdup mechanism). Firms delay merger proposals, thereby f…

This paper presents the results of a survey of Swedish multinationals conducted in 1999. The survey was carried out in order to update an existing database on Swedish manufacturing firms with producin…

This paper analyzes empirically the relationship between R&D and growth. The estimated elasticity of per capita R&D expenditures with respect to domestic per capita incomes lies between 1.81 a…

The main result of this study is that a financial constraint may serve as a disciplining device on the internal efficiency of a firm, and the tougher the product market competition, the higher the dis…

A model of occupational choice and human capital investment is developed and tested. The model allows family background to influence occupational choice via access to economic resources, differences i…

This paper analyses the effects of price and market size variables on the investment propensities in the pulp and paper industry. A panel of 15 European countries in the time period 1984 - 1997 is use…

Decentralisation of decision-making in active labour market policy makes it possible to use local information to the fullest, but may also impinge on the fulfilment of national objectives, as suggeste…

This paper determines the equilibrium market structure in a mixed international oligopoly, where the state assets are sold at an auction. The model suggests that low greenfield costs and low trade cos…

This study uses data on Swedish multinationals to estimate cross‐elasticities of labor demand in different locations. With a vertical decomposition of the firm’s activities, whether there is substitut…

I study the evolution of rationality, using an indirect evolutionary approach, in which nature selects a decision-making procedure, and the procedure chooses actions in matching-games. The main result…

This paper presents a unified analytical framework for the analysis of social security reform. It discusses reform along two dimensions: Pay-As-You-Go versus fully funded on the one hand, and actuaria…

This paper examines equilibrium and stability in symmetric two-player cheap-talk games and specifically characterizes the set of neutrally stable outcomes in cheap-talk 2 × 2 coordination games. With…

This paper provides deterministic approximation results for stochastic processes that arise when finite populations recurrently play finite games. The deterministic approximation is defined in continu…

The classical Roy-model of selection on the labor market is extended in order to analyze intergenerational mobility. This is done by linking ability uncertainty to family background. I derive implicat…

The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of European integration on the location of investments by Swedish multinational corporations (MNCs). Evidence is presented about the extent to whi…

In Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy Joseph A. Schumpeter concluded that socialism would eventually displace capitalism in Western democracies. This would come about as a result of the superior perf…

Consulting firms (CFs) sell services on a project basis to many clients and must therefore continuously tender for new contracts. One frequently used strategy by CFs is to visit the clients in connect…

This paper determines the equilibrium market structure in an international oligopoly which is opened up by a privatization. Market power is shown to be an important determinant of the equilibrium mark…

The recent 'scientification' of commercial technology has brought the interface between universities and industry into sharp focus. In particular, academic entrepreneurship, i.e., the variety of ways…

Centralized wage-setting institutions compress relative wages. Motivated by this fact, we investigate the effects of centralized wage setting on the industry distribution of employment. We examine Swe…

Most econometric studies of equity market integration suggest that national markets are increasingly becoming part of a global equity market. As regards the extent of this integration, however, the re…

The paper examines the determinants of the division of labor within firms. It provides an explanation of the pervasive observed changes in work organization away from the traditional functional depart…

Experimentalists frequently claim that human subjects in the laboratory violate such game-theoretic solutions as Nash equilibrium and subgame perfect equilibrium. It is here argued that this claim is…

During the coming 40 years, the increasing share of pensioners in the Nordic populations is likely to lead to a large increase in public pension spending as a share of GDP. This increase will tend to…

Most previous studies have found evidence at the aggregate level that female entrepreneurs underperform relative to their male counterparts. This study conducts a comprehensive test of this finding. T…

New information and communication technology (ICT) makes consumers better informed about available products, product quality and prices, which mitigates problems of asymmetric information. The entry o…

Success Strategies and Knowledge Transfer in Cross-Border Consulting Operations analyzes the international operations of consulting firms. Apart from developing a theoretical framework which differs f…

This paper discusses how ICT and emerging electronic commerce in consumer products influence the relative efficiency in production of households and firms, resulting in changes in the division of task…

Bergin and Lipman (1996) show that the refinement effect from the random mutations in the adaptive population dynamics in Kandori, Mailath and Rob (1993) and Young (1993) is due to restrictions on how…

This paper presents a model to explain why both industry leaders and follower firms often invest in R&D and explores the welfare implications of these R&D investment choices. Regardless of ini…

Sunk Costs, Firm Size, and Internationalization. — One strand of the industrial organization literature argues that outlays on sunk costs are endogenous in market expansion, implying an adaptive adjus…

This study uses data on Swedish multinationals to estimate cross elasticities of labour demand in different locations. With a vertical decomposition of the firm's activities, whether there is substitu…

Most previous studies have found evidence at the aggregate level that female entrepreneurs underperform relative to their male counterparts. This study conducts a comprehensive test of this finding. T…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of European integration on the location of investments by Swedish multinational corporations (MNCs). Evidence is presented about the extent to which…

Investigating the robustness of the skill-biased technical change hypothesis, this analysis incorporates two novel features. First, effective labor is modeled as the product of a quantity measure - nu…

The expected consumer’s surplus (ECS) is often used as a monetary measure of consumer welfare. Examples include the theory of regulation, competition policy, and price stabilization. This paper shows…

This paper studies the interaction between the incentives for predation and mergers. I show that the incentive for predation in an oligopoly is limited by the subsequent competition for the prey. This…

A quality-adjusted measure of labour is developed, where labour efficiency depends on firm training. This specification is integrated into a flexible neoclassical cost function, representing the firm'…

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is the dominant form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), but has received but scarce attention in the theory literature on trade and investment. This paper highlight…

In a recent review article, Agell et al. (ALO) [Agell, J., Lindh, T., Ohlsson, H., 1997. Growth and the public sector: a critical review essay. European Journal of Political Economy 13, 33–52.] claim…

In the models of Young (1993, Econometrica 61, 57–84; 1993, J. Econ. Theory 59, 145–168), boundedly rational individuals are recurrently matched to play a game, and they play myopic best replies to th…

This thesis consists of two parts, dealing with equilibrium selection in noncooperative games and strategic interaction in international markets, respectively. The main issue raised in each part is di…

FDI has received surprisingly little attention in theoretical and empirical work on openness and growth. This paper presents a theoretical growth model where MNCs directly affect the endogenous growth…

This paper analyzes a three-stage optimization problem in which a firm chooses (i) its technology, by deciding on a level of R&D, (ii) whether this technology is to be used in a domestic or in a f…

We demonstrate a "preemptive merger mechanism" which may explain the empirical puzzle why mergers reduce profits, and raise share prices. A merger may confer strong negative externalities on the firms…

We incorporate transaction taxes in a housing market search model with endogeneous house prices and show that these taxes unambiguously create lock-in effects that reduce welfare. The lock-in effects…

In conjunction with its tercentenary celebrations in 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Bank of Sweden) instituted a new award, "The Central Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel"…

This paper analyzes the interplay between social norms and economic incentives in the context of work decisions in the modem welfare state. We assume that to live off one's own work is a social norm,…

The search for growth-promoting policies is found to demand knowledge of how growth depends upon actions of entrepreneurs and how these actions depend upon the prevailing institutions. While instituti…

This paper considers a small open economy whit an input-output industrial structure that creates vertical linkages multiple equilibria. An imperfect labor market is introduced by assuming unionized la…

What forces determine national differences in the size and industry distribution of employment? We stress the role of the economic policy environment as determined by business taxes, employment securi…

The purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, we formulate a general method of identifying clusters of economic activity in a country or region. The methodology is based on generally available i…

In this paper it is argued that the size distribution of firms may largely be determined by institutional factors. This hypothesis is tested in an exploratory fashion by studying the evolution of the…

MUST (Macroeconomic Uncertainty Strategy) analysis can help identify the demand side of competitive intelligence. It is a key tool by which relevant economic variables can be identified for companies.…

Investment in human capital is a central issue in the literature on economic growth. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the economic incentives for investment in university education across…

National and International Spillovers from R&D: Comparing a Neoclassical and an Endogenous Growth Approach.— Two models where productivity growth is caused by spillovers from R&D are analyzed…

This paper evaluates the welfare consequences of the failing firm doctrine in the EU and US merger laws. I combine an oligopoly model with an "endogenous valuations" auction model. Thereby, I take int…

A unique database on individual tender documents is used to analyze the relationship between strategical factors and outcomes when technical consultancy firms (TCFs) compete for foreign assignments in…

In the models of Young (1993a,b), boundedly rational individuals are recurrently matched to play a game, and they play myopic best replies to the recent history of play. It could therefore be an advan…

This paper presents a model of R&D-driven growth without scale effects where firms can engage in both horizontal and vertical R&D activities. Unlike in earlier models of R&D-driven growth…

This paper analyzes how usual measures of revealed factor abundance (RFA), based on trade in merchandise, are affected by the existence of trade in services of intangible assets; trade that is mainly…

This paper analyses the effect on agglomeration tendencies of allowing firms to become multi-region firms in a standard model of trade and location. More specifically, we introduce horizontal and vert…

This thesis contains two studies. The first study investigates the income distribution among Namibian households. The second study examines the differences in earnings between males and females in the…

Can income equality be combined with high economic efficiency and rapid economic growth? Fortunately, we need not to answer such a general question. Indeed, the question is poorly phrased. The relatio…

A number of cross-country comparisons do not find a robust negative relationship between government size and economic growth. In part this may reflect the prediction in economic theory that a negative…

Bergin and Lipman (1996) show that the refinement effect from the random mutations in the adaptive dynamics in Kandori, Mailath and Rob (1993) and Young (1993) is due to restrictions on how these muta…

This thesis consists of four essays. Its main theme is the location of production in multinational firms. Subsidizing away exports? - A note on strategic trade policy, investigates how strategic trade…

This paper proposes an approach for prediction the pattern of mergers when different mergers are feasible. It generalizes the traditional IO approach, employing ideas on coalition-formation from coope…

By perturbing symmetric coordination games à la Bryant [Bryant, J., 1983. Quarterly Journal of Economics 98, 525–528] we derive unique solutions, the noise-proof equilibria. Our results agree with the…

It is extraordinarily difficult to determine the extent to which the gender wage gap reflects discriminatory behaviors by employers or differences in productive capacities between men and women. We no…

The analysis provides a new explanation for two widespread problems concerning European unemployment policy: the disappointingly small effect of many past reform measures on employment, and the politi…

Sweden experienced exceptionally fast economic growth during the century-long period 1870-1970. This illustrates that a decentralized market economy, highly open to international transactions, may be…

This paper considers the possibility of letting a pay-go pension system mimic a fully funded pension system. Generically, it turns out to be impossible to make a less than fully funded pension system…

This thesis contains two studies. The first study investigates the income distribution among Namibian households. The second study examines the differences in earnings between males and females in the…

Three empirical models for the choice of entry mode in foreign direct investment are compared. In contrast to the models used in earlier studies where the entry decision is taken to be predetermined,…

In this paper it is argued that the size distribution of firms may largely be determined by institutional factors. This hypothesis is tested in an exploratory fashion by studying the evolution of the…

Theoretical studies have shown that capital gains taxes in the housing market may create lock-in effects, but, so far, no empirical evidence has been presented regarding the size of these effects. For…

This paper takes a step towards formalizing the theoretical interconnections among four post-Industrial Revolution phenomena - the industrialization and growth take-off of rich "northern" nations, mas…

Lam and Schoeni (1993) consider an equation where earnings are explained by schooling and ability. They assume that ability data are lacking and that schooling is measured with error. The estimate obt…

In an analysis of the risk-sharing properties of different types of pension systems, we show that only a fixed-fee pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension systems can provide intergenerational risk sharing for l…