The dissertation consists of four independent papers in the fields of health economics, education economics, and political economy. One of the studies shows that refugee immigration increases voter turnout among Swedes.
In another chapter of the thesis, Gabriel Heller Sahlgren analyzes the effects of independent-school competition on pupil happiness and academic achievement.
“It turns out that independent-school competition decreases pupils' wellbeing at school, but at the same time improves their PISA scores”, says Gabriel Heller Sahlgren. He has also written a book, The Happiness Paradox (in Swedish), on this topic.
In the thesis, Gabriel Heller Sahlgren also analyzes the effects of retirement on mental health, finding a negative impact in a longer-term perspective, and how adult education and training (AET) affects employment outcomes, finding positive effects of non-formal, work-related AET specifically.
All four papers in the thesis employ different econometric methods to draw causal inferences from observational data.
Gabriel Heller Sahlgren will now do a post-doc at IFN, while also being affiliated to the LSE