Martin Ljunge

Associate Professor

Martin Ljunge is an Associate Professor in Economics. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. Martin has previously worked at the University of Copenhagen and Stockholm School of Economics. He has also been an affiliated researcher at Södertörn University.

IFN Researcher

Contact

Martin Ljunge

+46 (0)8 665 4517

martin.ljunge@ifn.se

Research interests: Behavioral economics, Health economics, Institutional economics, Integration, Labor economics, Political economy, Public economics, Social norms, Taxation, Welfare state

Some of the questions Martin Ljunge aims to answer in his research:

How do the risks and opportunities from AI affect economic policy?
How does the drone technology affect the economics of conflicts?
How do cultural factors influence immigrants' financial behavior?
How does trust affect individuals' choices and outcomes?
Does the welfare state have long-term effects on behaviors?

Current writings

27 March 2026

Svenska Dagbladet

Sverige bör bygga drönare med Ukraina

Op-Ed

by Martin Ljunge

23 January 2026

Dagens Nyheter

Det är en ny värld – Europa behöver ställa om för krig

Op-Ed

by Martin Ljunge

25 November 2025

Svenska Dagbladet

Vårt beroende av USA är kostsamt

Op-Ed

by Martin Ljunge

Published at IFN

Journal Articles

18 December 2023 Berggren, Niclas, Martin Ljunge and Therese Nilsson (2023). “Immigrants from More Tolerant Cultures Integrate Deeper into Destination Countries”. Journal of Comparative Economics 51(4), 1095–1108. doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2023.06.005

10 March 2023 Costa-Font, Joan and Martin Ljunge (2023). “Ideological Spillovers Across the Atlantic? Evidence from Trump’s Presidential Election”. European Journal of Political Economy 76, 102231. doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2022.102231

17 May 2021 Ljunge, Martin and Mikael Stenkula (2021). “Fertile Soil for Intrapreneurship: Impartial Institutions and Human Capital”. Journal of Institutional Economics 17(3), 489–508. doi.org/10.1017/S1744137420000612

18 January 2021 Berggren, Niclas and Martin Ljunge (2021). “Good Faith and Bad Health: Self-Assessed Religiosity and Self-Assessed Health of Women and Men in Europe”. Social Indicators Research 153(1), 323–344. doi.org/10.1007/s11205-020-02495-5

01 December 2019 Berggren, Niclas, Martin Ljunge and Therese Nilsson (2019). “Roots of Tolerance Among Second–Generation Immigrants”. Journal of Institutional Economics 15(6), 999–1016. doi.org/10.1017/S1744137419000316

01 February 2018 Costa-Font, Joan and Martin Ljunge (2018). “The ‘Healthy Worker Effect’: Do Healthy People Climb the Occupational Ladder?”. Economics & Human Biology 28, 119–131. doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2017.12.007

01 September 2016 Ljunge, Martin (2016). “Migrants, Health, and Happiness: Evidence that Health Assessments Travel with Migrants and Predict Well–Being”. Economics & Human Biology 22, 35–46. doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2016.03.004

01 January 2015 Ljunge, Martin (2015). “Social Capital and the Family: Evidence that Strong Family Ties Cultivate Civic Virtues”. Economica 82(325), 103–136. doi.org/10.1111/ecca.12102

01 December 2014 Ljunge, Martin (2014). “Social Capital and Health: Evidence that Ancestral Trust Promotes Health Among Children of Immigrants”. Economics & Human Biology 15, 165–186. doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2014.09.001

01 October 2014 Ljunge, Martin (2014). “Trust Issues: Evidence on the Intergenerational Trust Transmission Among Children of Immigrants”. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 106, 175–196. doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.07.001

01 January 2014 Ljunge, Martin (2014). “Social Capital and Political Institutions: Evidence that Democracy Fosters Trust”. Economics Letters 122, 44–49. doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2013.10.031

Book Chapters

01 January 2018 Ljunge, Martin (2018). “The Role of Trust in Explaining Health and Wealth Gaps in the EU”. In Ulf Bernitz, Moa Mårtensson, Lars Oxelheim and Thomas Persson (Eds.), Bridging the Prosperity Gap in the EU: The Social Challenge Ahead (199–219). Cheltenham, UK / Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

01 January 2018 Ljunge, Martin (2018). “Trust Promotes Health: Addressing Reverse Causality by Studying Children of Immigrants”. In Sherman Folland and Eric Nauenberg (Eds.), Elgar Companion to Social Capital and Health (184–195). Cheltenham, UK / Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

01 March 2017 Ljunge, Martin (2017). “Cultural Determinants of Gender Roles: Pragmatism as an Underpinning Attitude toward Gender Equality among Children of Immigrants”. In Social Economics: Current and Emerging Avenues (197–232). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

01 January 2015 Ljunge, Martin (2015). “Tillitens roll för skillnader i hälsa och välstånd i EU”. In Ulf Bernitz, Lars Oxelheim and Thomas Persson (Eds.), Välfärdsgapet - EU:s sociala utmaning. Europaperspektiv 2015 (221–243). Stockholm: Santérus Förlag.

Working Papers

09 December 2022 Berggren, Niclas, Martin Ljunge and Therese Nilsson (2022). “Immigrants’ Tolerance and Integration into Society”. IFN Working Paper No. 1447. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

19 January 2022 Costa-Font, Joan and Martin Ljunge (2022). “Ideological Spillovers Across the Atlantic? Evidence from Trump’s Presidential Election”. IFN Working Paper No. 1423. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

11 November 2020 Ljunge, Martin and Mikael Stenkula (2020). “Fertile Soil for Intrapreneurship: Impartial Institutions and Human Capital”. IFN Working Paper No. 1368. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

18 December 2019 Ljunge, Martin (2019). “From Gutenberg to Google: The Internet Is Adopted Earlier if Ancestors Had Advanced Information Technology in 1500 AD”. IFN Working Paper No. 1312. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

28 May 2019 Berggren, Niclas, Martin Ljunge and Therese Nilsson (2019). “Roots of Tolerance among Second-Generation Immigrants”. IFN Working Paper No. 1282. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

06 October 2017 Costa Font, Joan and Martin Ljunge (2017). “The ‘Healthy Worker Effect’: Do Healthy People Climb the Occupational Ladder?”. IFN Working Paper No. 1183. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

20 June 2017 Berggren, Niclas and Martin Ljunge (2017). “Does Religion Make You Sick? Evidence of a Negative Relationship between Religious Background and Health”. IFN Working Paper No. 1173. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

02 November 2016 Ljunge, Martin (2016). “Cultural Determinants of Gender Roles: Pragmatism Is an Important Factor behind Gender Equality Attitudes among Children of Immigrants”. IFN Working Paper No. 1137. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

25 February 2016 Ljunge, Martin (2016). “Migrants, Health, and Happiness: Evidence that Health Assessments Travel with Migrants and Predict Well-Being ”. IFN Working Paper No. 1112. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

03 November 2014 Ljunge, Martin (2014). “Social Capital and Health: Evidence That Ancestral Trust Promotes Health among Children of Immigrants”. IFN Working Paper No. 1046. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

18 November 2013 Ljunge, Martin (2013). “Social Capital and Political Institutions: Evidence that Democracy Fosters Trust”. IFN Working Paper No. 988. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

04 June 2013 Ljunge, Martin (2013). “Social Capital and the Family: Evidence that Strong Family Ties Cultivate Civic Virtues”. IFN Working Paper No. 967. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

20 December 2012 Ljunge, Martin (2012). “Trust Drives Internet Use”. IFN Working Paper No. 947. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

19 December 2012 Ljunge, Martin (2012). “Trust Issues: Evidence from Second Generation Immigrants”. IFN Working Paper No. 946. Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

Articles in Swedish

22 November 2023 Ljunge, Martin (2023). “Smittar populistiska framgångar av sig?”. Ekonomisk Debatt 51(8), 46–52.

01 January 2015 Ljunge, Martin (2015). “Pragmatism en viktig faktor bakom jämställda attityder bland barn till invandrare”. Ekonomisk Debatt 43(4), 40–51.

01 January 2013 Ljunge, Martin (2013). “Yngre generationers högre sjukskrivningsgrad – ett mått på hur snabbt välfärdsstaten förändrar normer”. Ekonomisk Debatt 41(5), 56–61.

Op-Eds

27 March 2026 Ljunge, Martin (2026). “Sverige bör bygga drönare med Ukraina”. Svenska Dagbladet, March 27.

23 January 2026 Ljunge, Martin (2026). “Det är en ny värld – Europa behöver ställa om för krig”. Dagens Nyheter, January 23.

25 November 2025 Ljunge, Martin (2025). “Vårt beroende av USA är kostsamt”. Svenska Dagbladet, November 25.

28 February 2025 Ljunge, Martin (2025). “EU måste byta geoekonomisk strategi”. Svenska Dagbladet, February 28.

25 February 2025 Ljunge, Martin (2025). “Trump har rätt: Satsa 5 procent av bnp på försvaret”. Dagens Nyheter, February 25.

20 June 2024 Ljunge, Martin (2024). “Statlig AI-aktiefond kan ta smällen om jobben ryker”. Dagens Nyheter, June 20.

08 May 2022 Ljunge, Martin (2022). “Inför en krigsskatt på rysk olja och gas”. Svenska Dagbladet, May 8.

02 April 2022 Berggren, Niclas and Martin Ljunge (2022). “Kriget i Ukraina skapar samling kring för europeiska värderingar”. Göteborgs-Posten, April 2.

22 October 2015 Ljunge, Martin (2015). “Tillåt handel med flyktingkvoter”. Svenska Dagbladet, October 22.

24 September 2015 Ljunge, Martin (2015). “Släpp in Airbnb i studentbostäderna”. Expressen, September 24.

24 May 2015 Ljunge, Martin (2015). “Kvinnor och män har lika attityder”. Svenska Dagbladet, May 24.

03 October 2013 Ljunge, Martin (2013). “Bryt loss sjukförsäkringen”. Svenska Dagbladet, October 3.

19 September 2013 Ljunge, Martin (2013). “När bidrag blir självklara ökar sjukskrivningarna”. SVT Debatt, September 19.

IFN Newsletter

01 June 2018 Ljunge, Martin (2018). “Fit for Management? How Good Health Helps Your Career”. IFN Newsletter (1), 1–4.