| 11. |
- von Essen, Emma, 1979-
(författare)
-
Understanding unequal outcomes : Studies on gender, social status and foreignness
- 2013
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In economics there are two main domains of explanation for understanding unequal outcomes. The first considers differences in individual preferences, while the second concerns differences in how individuals are treated.Part I of the thesis comprises four articles pertaining to the first explanation. The main focus of these articles is gender differences in preference. The behaviors studied therein are risk preferences, competitiveness, altruism and cooperativeness. The first study finds no gender differences in performance under a competitive setting, across tasks with varying gender stereotyping. In the second study we find the gender gap in choosing to compete to be present only in the mathematical and not the verbal domain among adolescents. Moreover, its presence can largely be accounted for by other factors, such as performance beliefs. The third and fourth study compares children in Colombia and Sweden. In this sample there are no gender differences in Colombia, but in Sweden boys choose to compete more than girls. In risk-aversion however we find the gender gap to be larger in Colombia. Girls compared to boys also seem to be less cooperative in Colombia, whereas we find the opposite in Sweden.Part II comprises two articles relating to how individuals are treated by others. The first article explores how social status influences third party punishment. Punishment decisions made by male third parties in response to a norm violation are in this study found to be affected by both the social status and the gender of the judged individual. The second article investigates how transient anonymity interacts with discrimination in online markets. The results show buyer discrimination in the feedback system against male sellers with foreign-sounding names. This discrimination only occurs when sellers are anonymous; that is, if they chose not to reveal their name in their username.
|
|
| 12. |
- Wickström Östervall, Linnea, 1971-
(författare)
-
Essays on antibiotics use: Nudges, preferences & welfare benefits
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The stock of effective antibiotics can be seen as a common resource. Depletion of this potentially renewable, but currently finite, resource through the development of resistance poses an important policy problem. Prudent use can delay the spread of resistance. It is hence interesting to study factors that affect use and overuse of antibiotics. This thesis consists of three empirical papers on antibiotics use, summarized as follows.The effect of reminders on the demand and supply of antibiotics prescriptionsIn this paper I use a randomized controlled trial to test the effect on antibiotics use of reminders to outpatients. With reminders antibiotics use fell by 12.6 percent relative to control clinics. The effect is at clinic level, suggesting that doctors or doctor–patient interaction, not individual patients, are affected. Results from a follow-up further indicate that doctor–patient interaction is important.Altruism, time preferences, and common resource conservation: A field study on preferences and antibiotics useIndividuals’ preferences may be of importance for the possibility to overcome social dilemmas, such as common resource conservation. In this study the role of other-regarding preferences and time preferences in the use of antibiotics is examined. The results indicate that altruism, as measured by willingness to give to a charity, is associated with less antibiotics use. Time preferences do not appear to play a role.The effect of temporary parental benefit on children’s antibiotics use: Evidence from a natural experiment Paired with widespread overconfidence in the effectiveness of antibiotics, social security benefits may affect the propensity of a patient or parent to push for a prescription. Using municipality level data, we show that a more generous compensation for the temporary parental benefit in Sweden resulted in a reduction in children’s antibiotics use by about five percent. This suggests welfare policies can have important indirect effects.
|
|
| 13. |
- Xiao, Wei, 1981-
(författare)
-
Migration, Crime and Search in Spatial Markets
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Search Frictions, Unemployment, and Housing in Cities: Theory and PoliciesWe propose an urban search-matching model with land development. We characterize the steady-state equilibrium and then discuss the issue of efficiency. We find that the transportation and housing policies are more efficient if the unemployment rate is low, while the entry-cost policy is more efficient if the unemployment rate is high.Land Development, Search Frictions, and City StructureThis paper analyzes the interactions between labor and housing (and land) markets in a city. Unemployment, the spatial structure of a city, land development, housing demand, prices of housing and land are all endogenously determined. Then, we characterize two different spatial configurations. To better understand how two equilibria are affected by land and labor market parameters, we implement a comparative steady state analysis. We further explored the effects of policies.Search for Jobs or Crimes?This paper develops a competitive search model where unemployed workers allocate their time between the search for legal jobs and opportunities for committing crimes. We analyze the effects of labor market policies and crime policies. We show that the market equilibrium is socially inefficient when there is crime. We also find that workers' individual choice of years of education is less than the socially efficient one.Rural-Urban Migration in Developing Countries: Labor Market Institutions and PoliciesThe paper studies rural-urban migration under different labor market institutions in developing countries. Specifically, we consider two types of labor market institutions where workers in urban firms are unionized or not. We find that unionization of workers raises unemployment, urban wages, and rural employment, reduces rural wages and urban employment and increases inequality between the rural and the urban sector. We also compare two institutions under different policies.
|
|
| 14. |
- Ferguson, Shon, 1979-
(författare)
-
Essays on Trade, Technology and the Organization of Firms
- 2010
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- "Endogenous Sunk Costs, Exporting and Heterogeneous Firms" Empirical evidence shows that R&D spending is highly correlated with firm productivity and highly concentrated among large firms. This paper develops a model of quality competition with heterogeneous firms that can explain these patterns. The model makes two new predictions. The first prediction is that exporters upgrade while domestic firms downgrade when trade liberalizes. The second prediction is that quality competition reduces the effect of trade liberalization along the extensive margin. "Endogenous Product Differentiation, Market Size and Trade" Recent empirical evidence suggests that average export prices are higher when firms sell in large markets. This paper offers a theoretical explanation for why we do not always see pro-competitive market size effects in the trade data for differentiated goods. The model here proposes that export prices can in fact be higher in larger countries because firms have greater incentive to differentiate their products, which increases price-cost markups. In the two-country case the model predicts that larger countries sell manufacturing goods at higher price-cost markups than smaller countries. "Institution-Driven Comparative Advantage, Complex Goods and Organizational Choice" The theory of the firm suggests that firms can respond to poor contract enforcement by vertically integrating their production process. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether firms' integration opportunities affect the way institutions determine international trade patterns. We find that vertical integration lessens the impact of a country's ability to enforce contracts on the comparative advantage of complex goods. We also find that countries with good financial institutions export disproportionately more in sectors that produce complex goods and that have a high propensity for vertical integration.
|
|
| 15. |
- Holmberg, Karolina, 1965-
(författare)
-
Empirical Essays in Macroeconomics and Finance
- 2012
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Derivation and Estimation of a New Keynesian Phillips Curve in a Small Open Economy This paper explores how well Swedish inflation is explained by a New Keynesian Phillips Curve. As the real driving variable in the Phillips Curve, a measure of firms' real marginal cost is compared to the traditional output gap. The results show that, with real marginal cost in the Phillips Curve equation, the point estimates generally have the expected positive sign, which is less frequently the case with the output gap. However, with both real marginal cost and the output gap, it is difficult to pin down a statistically significant relationship with inflation. Firm-Level Evidence of Shifts in the Supply of Credit This paper examines empirically whether firms are subject to shifts in credit supply over the business cycle. Shifts in the supply of credit are identified by exploring how firms substitute between commitment credit -- lines of credit -- and non-commitment credit. The results show that firms on average rely more on commitment credits when monetary policy is tight and when the financial health of banks is weaker. The results are consistent with a bank lending channel of monetary policy and with shifts in the supply of credit following deteriorations in banks' balance sheets. Lines of Credit and Investment: Firm-Level Evidence of Real Effects of the Financial Crisis This paper studies how the 2008 financial crisis affected corporate investment in Sweden through its effect on credit availability. The approach is to compare investments of firms before and after the onset of the crisis as a function of their ex ante sensitivity to a credit supply shock, controlling for fundamental determinants of investments. Sensitivity to a credit supply shock is measured as credit reserves, defined as unused credit on lines of credit. The results indicate that the decline in investment following the crisis was not exacerbated by a contraction in the supply of credit.
|
|
| 16. |
- Kim, Jaewon, 1978-
(författare)
-
Trade, Unemployment and Labour Market Institutions
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis consists of three papers, summarized as follows. "The Determinants of Labour Market Institutions: A Panel Data Study" This paper analyses the argument that labour market institutions can be thought of as devices for social insurance. It investigates the hypotheses that a country's exposure to external risk and ethnic fractionalisation are correlated with labor market institutions. Extreme bounds analysis with panel data of fourty years indicates that countries that are more open to international trade have stricter employment protection, strong unions, and a more coordinated wage bargaining process. Moreover, there is evidence that union density is negatively associated with the degree of ethnic fracationalisation. "Why do Some Studies Show that Generous Unemployment Benefits Increase Unemployment Rates? A Meta-Analysis of Cross-Country Studies" This paper investigates the hypothesis that generous unemployment benefits give rise to high levels of unemployment by systematically reviewing 34 cross-country studies. In contrast to conventional literature surveys, I perform a meta-analysis which applies regression techniques to a set of results taken from the existing literature. The main finding is that the choice of the primary data and estimation method matter for the final outcome. The control variables in the primary studies also affect the results. "The Effects of Trade on Unemployment: Evidence from 20 OECD countries" This study empirically investigates if international trade has an impact on aggregate unemployment in the presence of labour market institutions. Using data for twenty OECD countries for the years 1961-2008, this study finds that an increase in trade leads to higher aggregate unemployment as it interacts with rigid labour market institutions, whereas it may reduce aggregate unemployment if the labour market is characterised by flexibility. In a country with the average degree of the labour market rigidities, an increase in trade has no significant effect on unemployment rates.
|
|
| 17. |
- Lindblad, Hans, 1960-
(författare)
-
Essays on Unemployment and Real Exchange Rates
- 2010
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the first essay, Persistence in Swedish Unemployment Rates, we study if there is no or weak tendency in unemployment rates to revert back to previous levels. Persistence is caused by: natural rate shocks, long unemployment cycles, and spill-over from cyclical to permanent unemployment. We find evidence of high persistence. The results suggest that the quick rise of unemployment rates during 1992-1994 was caused by large permanent and cyclical shocks in combination with spill-over effects. In the second essay, The Equilibrium Rate of Unemployment in a Small Open Economy, we challenge the common and simplifying assumption that the economy is closed. We set up and estimate a structural unobserved components open economy model for the unemployment rate and the real exchange rate. Our estimates indicate that the foreign sector is of substantial importance when explaining movements in the NAIRU. In the third essay, A Simultaneous Model of the Swedish Krona, the US Dollar and the Euro, we simultaneously estimate the real exchange rates between the Swedish Krona, the US Dollar and the Euro. The exchange rate movements are well explained by potential output, the output gap, terms of trade, the fraction of prime-aged people in the population, and structural government budget deficits. The models work well in an out of sample exercise. In the last essay, Wages, Employment, and Unemployment: The Effect of Benefits, Taxes and Labor Mobility, we study how wages and employment are affected by unemployment insurance and labor mobility. We show that the wage effect of higher unemployment benefits can be either positive or negative, depending on the specification of union utility function and the taxation scheme for financing the benefits. The common claim that wages are lower when a sector bears a higher fraction of unemployment costs does not hold in general. We also show that labor mobility across sectors and increased competition reduces wages and unemployment.
|
|
| 18. |
- Rödin, Magnus, 1976-
(författare)
-
Gender, Ethnicity and Labor Market Disparities
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Acculturation identity and employment among second and middle generation immigrants This paper explores the employment implications for individuals with a foreign background of identification to the ethnic group and to the majority culture. Results indicate that what matters for employment outcomes is an attachment to the majority culture while a strong attachment to the ethnic group is not per se detrimental for employment outcomes. Acculturation Identity and Higher Education: Is There a Trade-off Between Ethnic Identity and Education? This paper examines the role of identification to home and host cultures on the pursuit of higher educations. Results indicate that men with a bicultural identity are associated with higher probabilities of completed tertiary educations than men that identify only with the majority culture. Results put into question the premise of oppositional identities, i.e. a trade-off between ethnic identity and higher educational achievement. Is It How You Look or Speak That Matters? - An Experimental Study Exploring the Mechanisms of Ethnic Discrimination Using a laboratory experiment, this paper explores if beliefs about an individual’s performance are affected by how this person looks and speaks. Results show that individuals not perceived as stereotypically Swedish are considered to be worse performers. However, when candidates are presented by both looks and speech, differential evaluations based on looks disappear. Instead, we find strong negative beliefs about performance for candidates that speak Swedish with a foreign accent. Gender Differences in Exiting Tournaments - Experimental Evidence from Mexico, Norway and Sweden Using data from a television game-show, this study examines if men and women, who have actively self-selected into a competitive environment, differ in their propensity to exit a high-stakes tournament. Results show no gender differences in the propensity to leave the tournament in all three countries tested.
|
|
| 19. |
- Özcan, Gülay, 1973-
(författare)
-
Essays on Labor Market Disparities and Discrimination : Immigration, Education and Gender
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis consists of four papers, summarized as follows. Do Host Country Educations Even Out the Playing Field? Immigrant-Native Labor Market Gaps in Sweden This study follows a cohort of students from Swedish compulsory school graduation in 1988 until 2002 to document differences in education, including grades and field of education, and labor market outcomes between immigrants and natives. Results indicate initial differences in youth labor market status and long term differences in employment rates, most notably for those with Non-European backgrounds. Acculturation Identity and Higher Education: Is There a Trade-off Between Ethnic Identity and Education? This paper examines the role of identification to home and host cultures on the pursuit of higher educations for individuals with immigrant backgrounds. Identity is defined according to a two-dimensional acculturation framework based on strength of identification to both ethnic background cultures and the majority culture. The results put into question the premise of oppositional identities. Is It How You Look or Speak That Matters? -An Experimental Study Exploring the Mechanisms of Ethnic Discrimination Using a laboratory experiment, we explore the following questions: Are beliefs about performance affected by if a candidate is perceived to have looks that are non-stereotypical for the dominant population? Do these beliefs change if the candidate has a native-like vs. accented speech? We find that candidates not perceived as stereotypically Swedish are considered to be worse performers. When candidates are presented by both looks and speech, we find negative beliefs for candidates that speak Swedish with a foreign-accent. Sector Differences in the Glass Ceiling in Sweden -Is Occupational Segregation the Explanation? This paper explores sector differences in how the gender wage gap varies across the wage distribution and examines the role of occupational segregation in explaining this variation for Sweden. Results indicate that the phenomenon known as the glass ceiling is stronger in the public sector than in the private sector. This difference is found to be due to occupational segregation.
|
|
