| 1. |
- Algers, Staffan, et al.
(author)
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Mixed logit estimation of the value of travel time
- 1998
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In this paper we use mixed logit specifications to allow parameters to vary in the population when estimating the value of time for long-distance car travel. Our main conclusion is that the estimated value of time is very sensitive to how the model is specified: we find that it is significantly lower when the coefficients are assumed to be normally distributed in the population, as compared to the traditional case when they are treated as fixed. In our most richly parameterised model, we find a median value of time of 57 SEK per hour, with the major part of the mass of the value of time distribution closely centred around the median value. The corresponding figure when the parameters are treated as fixed is 89 SEK per hour. Furthermore, our finding that the ratio of coefficients in a mixed logit specification differ significantly from the ones in a traditional logit specification is contrary to the results obtained by Brownstone & Train (1996) and Train (1997). Whether the ratios will differ or not depends on the model and the data generating process at hand.
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| 2. |
- Bergström, Pål
(author)
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Bootstrap methods and applications in econometrics : a brief survey
- 1999
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper provides a brief survey of the bootstrap and its use in econometrics. As an introduction, the paper gives a description of the basics of the method, with a special emphasis on boostrap testing. A fairly large amount of space is devoted to discuss why bootstrap tests provide refinements compared to equivalent asymptotic tests. A series of recent different applications in the econometrics literature is then surveyed, in order to give a picture of this rapidly evolving research field.
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| 3. |
- Bergström, Pål
(author)
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Bootstrap methods and applications in econometrics : a brief survey
- 1999
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper provides a brief survey of the bootstrap and its use in econometrics. As an introduction, the paper gives a description of the basics of the method, with a special emphasis on boostrap testing. A fairly large amount of space is devoted to discu
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| 4. |
- Bergström, Pål
(author)
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Essays in labour economics and econometrics
- 1998
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The thesis consists of five self-contained essays in Labour Economics and Econometrics.Essay I examines the potential effects of altered payroll taxes on unemployment by using a general equilibrium model with wage bargaining and two groups of labour: skilled and unskilled. The results within the framework of the paper are not very encouraging, though. Differentiated or generally lowered payroll taxes cannot be expected to provide relief for the unemployed unskilled. However, increasing the progressiveness of the payroll tax could induce positive effects through wage moderation. This policy is however likely to have adverse effects on skill formation, a problem which is addressed by modelling individuals' choices of education explicitly.Essay II (with Sara Lindberg) investigates the potential influence of financial leverage on the intertemporal hiring decisions of firms. Using the hierarchy of finance approach to corporate finance, we derive the Euler equation of employment in the presence of convex adjustment costs. We show the empirical implications for the Euler equation of firms facing a hierarchy of financial costs, and estimate a linearised version thereof using a large panel of Swedish manufacturing firms over the period 1979-88. To alleviate some of the estimation problems involved we make use of recently suggested bootstrap methods. Our empirical findings indicate that the influence of financial leverage on firms' hiring decisions differs significantly between firms in different financial regimes.In Essay III (with Matz Dahlberg and Eva Johansson) we investigate the determinants of municipal labour demand in Sweden 19881995. Utilising a major grant reform in 1993, through which a switch from mainly targeted to mainly general central government grants occurred, we are able to identify which type of grants that have the largest effects on municipal employment. We find a larger municipal employment elasticity with respect to grants before the reform, implying that the more freedom given to the municipalities, the less they seem inclined to spend on municipal employment.It is a well known property that standard GMM estimators for dynamic panel data might perform poorly in small samples. The aim of Essay IV (with Matz Dahlberg and Eva Johansson) and Essay V is to compare how two recently suggested bootstrap procedures can assist inference in dynamic panel data models, when the mentioned small-sample bias is a potential problem. We do this by means of Monte Carlo experiments, forming tests using both standard errors estimated by asymptotic approximations, as well as by bootstrap procedures. The results give a fairly clear support for using bootstrap inference. Whereas the tests based on asymptotics have empirical levels that may deviate substantially from their nominal ones, the bootstrap procedures appear to perform quite well in the context of dynamic panel data estimation.
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| 5. |
- Bergström, Pål, et al.
(author)
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Firms' financial policy and labour demand : theory and evidence
- 1998
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We investigate the influence of financial leverage on firms' hiring decisions in the context of a hierarchy of finance model. The analysis is based on the Euler equation of employment in the presence of convex adjustment costs. We show the empirical implications of firms facing a hierarchy of financial costs, and estimate a linearised version of the model on a large panel of Swedish manufacturing firms. Bootstrap methods are utilised to alleviate some of the estimation problems involved. The empirical findings indicate that the influence of financial leverage on firms' hiring decisions differs significantly between firms in different financial regimes.
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| 6. |
- Bergström, Pål, et al.
(author)
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Firms' financial policy and labour demand : theory and evidence
- 1998
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We investigate the influence of financial leverage on firms' hiring decisions in the context of a hierarchy of finance model. The analysis is based on the Euler equation of employment in the presence of convex adjustment costs. We show the empirical impli
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| 7. |
- Bergström, Pål, et al.
(author)
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GMM Bootstrapping and Testing in Dynamic Panels
- 1999
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In: Essays on Local Public Finance and Intergovernmental Grants. - Uppsala : Department of Economics, Uppsala University.
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Bergström, Pål, et al.
(author)
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Municipal labour demand : Sweden 1988-1995
- 1998
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In this paper we investigate the determinants of municipal labour demand in Sweden 1988-1995. Utilising a major grant reform in 1993, through which a switch from mainly targeted to mainly general central government grants occurred, we are able to identify which type of grants that have the largest effects on municipal employment. We find a larger municipal employment elasticity with respect to grants before the reform, implying that the more freedom given to the municipalities, the less they seem inclined to spend on municipal employment. We further find (i) a short run wage elasticity of approximately -0.5 and a long run ditto of approximately -0.9, (ii) a quite sluggish adjustment process: only 60% of the desired change in municipal employment is implemented in the first year, (iii) that the demographic structure is an important determinant of municipal employment, and (iv) that the behavioural pattern is different in"socialist"municipalities.
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| 10. |
- Bergström, Pål, et al.
(author)
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Municpal Labour Demand - Sweden 1988-1995
- 1998
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In: Essays in Labour Economics and Econometrics. - Uppsala : Department of Economics, Uppsala University.
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)
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