Research Surveys, Policy Papers, Popular Science, Book Reviews and PhD Thesises.

This thesis comprises four self-contained papers that rely on applied micro-econometric methods to understand which factors are important in shaping the gender wage gap in globalized firms and how fir…

The market for labor is crucial in many respects. Nearly all persons interact with it throughout much of their lives. Moreover, individuals make significant life choices and substantial investments in…

Recent research has highlighted the contribution that managerial decisions make to firms’ productivity. This column uses a novel measure of job-worker allocation quality to document how firms that mat…

Constructing football fields in Sweden with artificial turf has grown in popularity in recent years. Although the increase in playing time per year is a significant benefit of using artificial turf, t…

The basic policy tool for increasing FDI is international investment agreements (IIAs), state-to-state treaties that protect FDI against host country policy measures. This note focuses on the IIA of m…

Multinational firms (MNEs) are key actors in the global economy, accounting for more than one-fifth of global output and more than two-thirds of global trade (Qiang et al., 2020). Moreover, approximat…

Wealth inequality has attracted considerable attention in recent years. This column presents new historical evidence that revises earlier results and reveals long-term patterns. A key finding is that…

I read books in recurring cycles, by subject. The first subject is Economics, then History, followed by Music and Art. Each cycle is concluded with Other, which is anything else, including fiction. I…

Throughout the Western world, power has come to be seen as something that should be restricted at all costs, because increasingly power is associated with coercion, fraud, ruthlessness, and violence.…

Gender identity norms such as the male bread-winner model are possible drivers of persistent gender inequalities in the labour market. However, the extent to which they restrict the behaviour of coupl…

Gender identity norms are possible drivers of persistent gender inequalities in the labour market, but the extent to which such norms restrict the behaviour of couples is debated. This column examines…

This is an extended version of an article published in the anthology Integrating Immigrants into the Nordic Labour Markets, Calmfors. L. and Sánchez Gassen, N. (eds.),  Nordic Council of Ministers, Co…

This study discusses pros and cons of the Swedish international investment agreements from an economic perspective. It concludes that the older Swedish bilateral agreements should be revised to ensure…

This cumulative dissertation consists of five self-contained essays, all o which are closely focused around issues that concern the WTO dispute settlement mechanism (DSM).

This thesis covers issues related to financing in mergers and acquisitions. It studies the relationship between firms’ financing conditions and firms’ decisions to either buy or sell assets.

This is an English version of the article  ”Työmarkkinat Suomessa ja Ruotsissa – ruotsalainen näkökulma”, published in Talous & Yhteiskunta, no 2, 10–17, 2016, issued by the Labour Institute for E…

What is the impact of labour market institutions on entrepreneurial activity? Recently it has been argued that flexible labour market institutions have a positive influence on entrepreneurial activity…

How can a country improve the productivity growth in its business sector and reach its growth potential? Sweden during the 1970–2010 period can serve as an example to help other countries understand h…

South and Southeast Asia have experienced high economic growth and rapid development over the last couple of decades. This positive development has been accompanied and caused by various changes in ec…

This is a well-written and interesting paper. It is highly informative and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand Sri Lanka's modern political and economic history. The paper gives a s…

In 1995 the Canadian Government abolished an export subsidy on railway shipments of grain from the Canadian Prairies known as the Western Grain Transportation Act (WGTA). This decision marked the end…

In this dissertation, Martin present four self-contained essays. All essays have the common property of considering how institutions affect workers and their behavior. In Essays I and II, Martin analy…

This thesis deals with different aspects of competition in retail markets. It consists of four self-contained essays.

This thesis consists of four self-contained essays. Essay 1: (with Johan Lyhagen) In the first essay, we develop an improved test of economic convergence or divergence using time series methods. The u…

Two non-discrimination principles underlie the World Trade Organization Agreement, as well as many regional trade agreements. The "Most Favored Nation" clause (MFN) essentially requires that equal tre…