News

Steven Davis, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, visited Sweden and IFN in December. He participated in a public seminar and was interviewed by Pär Ivarsson, Ekonomiekot, Swedish Radio. Davis is co-founder of the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, which measures economic uncertainty and its impact on production, investment and employment. The interview will be broadcasted in channel P1 tomorrow Saturday, January 9^th at 11:40 am.

In 2015, the Research Institute of Industrial Economics, IFN, has produced three podcasts in English. The topics range from GDP to immigration. If you have a quiet moment during the holidays, we suggest that you download and listen to an IFN podcast.

Does policy uncertainty curb economic growth? Yes, said Professor Steven Davis, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, at a seminar organized by IFN in Stockholm on December 16. A Swedish example of uncertainty created by the politicians is the government's announcement that distribution of profits in the service sector will be restricted. Steven Davis pointed to the refugee flows that create uncertainty in European societies. Davis is co-founder of the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, which measures economic uncertainty and its impact on production, investment and employment. A panel discussed Davis’ finding: Max Elger, State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Ulf Kristersson, Economic Policy Spokesperson for the Moderate Party and Professor John Hassler, Chairman of the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council.

Joacim Tåg, IFN, participated on Wednesday in a panel discussion hosted by the Swedish Venture Capital Association (SVCA). A report on the impact of ownership on value creation and job creation in Sweden was presented. It shows that 50% of all capital is foreign owned. A panel discussed the report's conclusions in general and equity/ownership in Sweden in particular. The participants agreed that the active owners are an asset to companies, but also for the economy at large.

On December 7, Özge Öner, IFN, participated in a seminar about dynamics of the city and surrounding regions. The seminar was organized by Entrepreneurship Forum. Geoffrey Hewings, professor at the University of Illinois, opened with a presentation of research on the degree of interdependence between the city and its metropolitan area. “It is very large but often unmeasured and therefore under-appreciated,” said Hewings.

On November 25, four economists discussed school research at a seminar organized by IFN: Karin Edmark, Gabriel Heller Sahlgren, Jonas Vlachos and Björn Öckert. The first three being affiliated to IFN. The venue was packed and the debate was lively about what researchers really know in regards to the causes of the failing Swedish school results. The researchers all agreed that recruitment to the teaching profession is one of several key explanations.

A report published by Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum with Henrik Jordahl, IFN, and Karin Edmark, Stockholm University and affiliated to IFN, as co-authors shows that seven out of ten Swedes want to limit the distribution of profits in the service sector. At the same time an equally large majority of Swedes believe that freedom of choice is important. In addition, the report indicates that the profit motive is an important driver for competition and innovation and that public opinion against profits in tax-financed services partly is based on misconceptions about the size of profits. On average, Swedes overestimate the profit margins by more than 400 percent.

On Tuesday, November 17, three renowned IFN-researchers participated in public seminars: Professor Lars Calmfors, Professor Magnus Henrekson and Associate Professor Per Skedinger. The subjects were wages, employment and changes in society overall. The massive current of refugees and the opportunities for newcomers to find jobs were discussed from different viewpoints at all three seminars.

Once a year, the Rector of the University of Economics in Prague awards prizes to the faculty for best publications. This year Niclas Berggren, research fellow at IFN, was awarded second prize in the category journal articles. Berggren is affiliated to the Department of Institutional, Environmental and Experimental Economics (KIE) at the University of Economics. The article for which the prize was awarded, ”Globalization and the Transmission of Social Values: The Case of Tolerance”, was written by Niclas Berggren and Therese Nilsson and was published in the Journal of Comparative Economics.

Magnus Henrekson, IFN, and Åsa Hansson, Lund University and affiliated to IFN, addressed today, at a TCO seminar, the need for tax reforms. Magnus Henrekson primarily advocated a tax code that does not "punish" those who want to invest in new growing businesses and not large public firms. He also pointed to the need for Swedish employee stock options. Åsa Hansson proposed the reintroduction of property tax ­-- a progressive and locally decided tax. She also advocated a reduction of the capital tax and that the VAT is raised.

Associate Professor Henrik Jordahl, Director of IFN's research program The Economics of the Service Sector, has been appointed to the Council for Research Issues at the Swedish Competition Authority. The Council consists of 12 members, and is chaired by Director-General Dan Sjöblom. The Council is responsible for the Authority's evaluation of research applications. The Council should also stimulate research in the competition and public procurement area.

Academic seminars are held at IFN on Wednesdays at 10–11.15 a.m. At these meetings researchers from IFN and other institutions and universities present their recent research. Visitors are welcome!
Prior to today's seminar Ola Andersson, IFN, greeted researchers Daniel Halvarsson, Ratio, and Patrik Tingvall, Södertörn University. They presented a study entitled "Asymmetric Effects on Firm Performance from Employing Mismatched Workers".

Andreas Bergh, IFN and Lund University, has revised and updated the book The capitalist welfare state (Studentlitteratur) which now is published in a fourth edition. Any news in the book? "In this edition I investigate the causal link between institutions and prosperity. I study for-profit companies in the welfare sector and address new research on problems in the Swedish school system and the importance of trust for the Swedish success," explains Andreas Bergh.

Early September researchers involved in the EU project Fires met in Berlin. The project involves nine research institutions in as many countries, IFN is one and London School of Economics is another. The researchers' task is to – based on solid research – propose policies that can make Europe more entrepreneurial. The projects will end in 2018. In Berlin entrepreneurs from several countries participated, including Birgitta Stymne Göransson, Chairman of Medivir AB.

"Aid on Demand: African Leaders and the Geography of China's Foreign Assistance" was the title of a study that Axel Dreher presented and discussed at a research seminar at IFN on Wednesday. Dreher is Professor of International and Development Politics at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

"The European Central Bank is currently struggling to get inflation going again," states Dow Jones Newswire/Wall Street Journal refering to research by Roger Svensson, IFN, and Andreas Westermark of Sweden’s Riksbank. "Maybe it is time the ECB tried something a little bit more radical, something from the playbook of authorities from the Middle Ages: recoinage." Roger Svensson is the author of the extensive work "Renovatio Monetae – Bracteates and Coinage Policies in Medieval Europe".

In a new study, Niclas Berggren and Therese Nilsson, IFN, look at the effect of changes in economic freedom on tolerance in the United States. In comparing U.S. states they find that an increase in the willingness to let atheists, homosexuals and communists speak, keep books in libraries and teach college students is, overall, positively related to preceding increases in economic freedom, more specifically in the form of more general taxes.

August 6-7, a scientific workshop on the subject “economics of corporate ownership” was organized by the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN). During two days in Vaxholm, just outside of Stockholm, specially invited researchers from Europe and the US discussed subjects related to the real economic effects of ownership forms and changes in ownership. In total, thirteen studies were presented.

Matti Keloharju, Professor of Finance at the Aalto University of Business and affiliated researcher at IFN, has been appointed to Academy of Finland Professorship for the years 2016-20. The Academy funds a number of five-year professorships which allow their holders to focus on research on a full-time basis. Professor Keloharju is the first business school professor ever to win this prestigious research grant. He will use his professorship primarily to collaborate with IFN researchers. He will be visiting Harvard Business School in the academic year 2015-16.