IFN 's newsletter in English (News from IFN) was authored by researchers at IFN and presented a special feature article on a timely topic. Our Swedish Newsletter is more policy orientated and is still published on our Swedish website.
While the debate over academic freedom has mostly focused on cultural issues, a new study investigates whether freedom of academic inquiry is also important for the economy. The results indicate that it is, so long as the quality of the legal system is high. Only then do entrepreneurs apply the new knowledge generated through research in ways that boost productivity growth.
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been marketed as revolutionary new money and an attractive investment. But closer examination suggests that Bitcoin works poorly as money and does not qualify as an asset based on user value. Instead, almost all Bitcoin trading has purely speculative purposes.
Part-time jobs during high school provide one of the most commonly-used pathways into regular employment. This note discusses why such contacts are an important job search channel for young workers, and reports that Swedish students who could not return to a former employer due to a workplace closure have significantly worse labour market outcomes. Our results suggest that policies such as subsidizing summer jobs during recessions may ease the transition into work during adverse labour market conditions.
In the aftermath of the Covid 19 crisis, the business sectors in Sweden and Europe will need considerable restructuring and reorganization. These required changes add to the need to keep pace with the evolving digital technologies. Sweden underwent a similar transformation in the early 1990s, when wide-ranging policy reforms were undertaken. What lessons can we draw from them?
A recent proposal to regulate minimum wages at the EU level has not been well received in the Nordic countries, in which these wages traditionally have been set in negotiations between unions and employers. This article discusses what research has to say about the employment effects of collectively agreed minimum wages and, in light of these findings, disputes the need for supranational minimum wage fixing in the Union.
A key task for economists and policymakers is to predict how markets will respond to regulatory changes. In recent research we analyze the impact of entry regulations on consumers and firms, focusing on product variety. Analyzing rich product-level data, we find that a more liberal entry regime in Swedish retail increases both product variety and efficiency, to the benefit of consumers and firms. Our results suggest that policymakers need to factor in the consequences for product variety when taking regulatory decisions.
When should entrepreneurs choose to enter the market with a start-up? And when should they sell their invention or business idea? New research on how entrepreneurs decide between entry and sale offers significant insights for policy makers concerned about economic welfare.
Network industries, such as electricity and water distribution, are typically seen to require regulation to prevent excessive pricing. But new research shows how consumer awareness can also create competitive pressure among local network owners. Using a unique data set on publicly-owned water utilities in Sweden, the study finds that utilities set prices similar to those in neighboring networks despite the absence of alternative suppliers for consumers. Moreover, this “price mimicking” behavior is more pronounced in municipalities where local policy makers run a higher risk of being voted out of office.
There is a well-known positive association between job status and health. The relationship has been taken as evidence of how the work environment shapes health. But newly published research from the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) and the London School of Economics (LSE) establishes an effect in the opposite direction. It finds that better health increases the likelihood of being a supervisor, as well as having more autonomy and more influence at the workplace.
How important are political rules for economic growth? Recent work at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics supports theories that changes in political institutions can be key determinants of economic institutions and growth. Björn Tyrefors Hinnerich, Erik Lindgren and Per Pettersson-Lidbom examined the impact of Sweden’s 1862 suffrage reform, which extended the voting rights of industrialists. Using a unique data set they found that the reform was a key factor in Sweden’s growth miracle because it gave industrialists more political clout, kick-starting the process.
State-to-state investment treaties such as TTIP and CETA have recently come under intense fire in the policy debate. Their vague formulations and highly potent compensation mechanisms are alleged to prevent host countries from pursuing legitimate public policy goals. An ongoing IFN project scrutinizes the economics and politics of investment agreements – and explains why some of the popular criticism seems to be warranted.
Recent research at IFN finds that free infant care during the first year of life has not only substantial positive short-term health effects, but also positive long-term effects. These services, including the provision of soft inputs to parents, also seem to have positive welfare effects over the life span in other respects, such as through improved cognitive skills and labour market outcomes. The effects are particularly strong for women.
Stimulating entrepreneurship is high on policymakers’ agendas. But what should we mean when we talk about entrepreneurship, and why is it so important? Should policymakers try to influence entrepreneurial activity, and if so, how can this best be done? Magnus Henrekson and Mikael Stenkula analyze these issues in a comprehensive new textbook – Understanding Entrepreneurship – designed as a core text for undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship and economics.
Do pork barrel politics really change voting behavior? IFN researchers measured the effect of high-profile pledges on child care in Swedish elections – with surprising results, writes Henrik Jordahl.
Recent IFN research reveals that short-termist behavior is not widespread among private equity firms, and that tax evasion is not what really generates returns for investors. In addition, the researchers have found that routine and off-shoreable jobs, or jobs that have survived thanks to aggressive labour unions, are prime targets for layoffs after buyouts.
Capitalism can create prosperity only if there is a clear separation between the market and the political sphere, argues Andreas Bergh in his new book Sweden and the Revival of the Capitalist Welfare State (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014).
The debate about nuclear power focuses mostly on safety, environmental costs for nuclear waste and climate benefits due to reduced carbon emissions. A further potentially important aspect is the consequences associated with the concentrated ownership structure of Nordic electricity plants, including the Swedish nuclear power plants. In this article, Sven-Olof Fridolfsson examines the contested issue of whether market power may lead to underinvestment in nuclear power.
