<p>In this study I analyze the Swedish parental benefit system focusing on a certain component, the basic level, and its effects on childbearing. The basic level consists of a fixed monetary amount given to parents. The compensation level was raised three times between 2002 and 2004, which would, according to economic theories, imply increased incentives for having children. I use longitudinal data of women in fertile age between 1993 and 2005. Applying a difference-in-differences model on comparison groups based on region of birth I conclude that the policy changes probably did not cause increased probabilities of having children.</p>

In this study I analyze the Swedish parental benefit system focusing on a certain component, the basic level, and its effects on childbearing. The basic level consists of a fixed monetary amount given to parents. The compensation level was raised three times between 2002 and 2004, which would, according to economic theories, imply increased incentives for having children. I use longitudinal data of women in fertile age between 1993 and 2005. Applying a difference-in-differences model on comparison groups based on region of birth I conclude that the policy changes probably did not cause increased probabilities of having children.

This paper investigates the impact of receiving microcredit on the economic conditions of urban poor. The change in household income level between the years 2009 and 2011 was measured for a group of survey participants half of whom were microcredit beneficiaries, while the other half were not. The survey was conducted in Dushanbe, the capital city of Tajikistan. A difference-in-differences approach was used for the analysis and various other attributes that influence income such as the level of education, age and gender were taken into account in model formation. The findings indicate that microloans do not significantly affect the income level of the urbn poor in the short run.

In this article, we combine two so far separate strands of the economic literature and argue that democratization leads to a real exchange rate appreciation. We test this hypothesis empirically for a sample of countries observed from 1980 to 2007 by combining a difference-in-difference approach with propensity score matching estimators. Our empirical results reveal a strong and significant finding: democratization causes real exchange rates to appreciate. Consequently, the ongoing process of democratization observed in many parts of the world is likely to reduce exchange rate distortions.

The thesis analyses the influence of reimbursement regulatory fee for hospitalization which was introduced in regional hospitals in 2009 in Czech Republic. The difference in differences analysis was used to study the possible relationship between reimbursement of the fee for length of hospitalization in acute care hospitals and in after-care facilities. In acute care the influence was 0,5-1 % of the length and in after-care facilities between 8-12 %. This relationship may be biased because of introduction of DRG system which may decrease the length of stay and may be differently distributed between the treatment and control groups.

Vývoda O., The Impact of Introduction of the Euro on the Inflation Rate in Central and Eastern European states. Diploma thesis. Brno: Mendel University in Brno, 2019 This diploma thesis concerns with the impact of introduction of the Euro on the rates of inflation in central and eastern European states (Slovenia, Slovakia, Esto-nia, Latvia and Lithuania). First part offers a review of existing literature on the matter of inflation and perceived inflation on accession to the Monetary union. Second part is focused on the analysis of panel data where the impact of introduc-tion of euro on the inflation rates of these states is tested on the basis of the mone-tarist model of inflation determination. Subsequently, the thesis is complemented by an effects analysis in individual states using the Difference-in-differences method. The last part contains discussion and a summary of the results.

This paper examines the impact of confirmed shootings on the attractiveness of a neighborhood, measured through local housing prices, in Sweden’s major metropolitan areas during 2016-2019. A novel difference-in-differences approach is proposed where control groups are selected from areas that will be exposed to shootings in the near future but have not yet been so, thus mitigating the problem from previous studies that shootings might be a result of underlying unobserved factors for the neighborhood. The results are inconclusive overall apart from Uppsala, where the estimate is negative and significant, indicating a 4.8 percent drop in nearby housing prices after a shooting. Multiple alternative specifications are used to test the robustness of the results. Overall, the negative estimate for Uppsala seems quite stable, whereas the estimated impact in other regions remains insignificant. One potential explanation could be that gun-violence is a rather new phenomena in Uppsala relative to the other regions, which could make the effect of a shooting in Uppsala more pronounced. A consideration for policy makers may then be that programs aiming to reduce gun-violence will have a larger economic impact in areas where shootings are a relatively new and arising problem.

The thesis deals with price convergence in eurozone states. First part offers litera-ture review of this issue. The second part of this diploma thesis focuses on the impact of eurozone membership on price level convergence between the time period 1995 to 2016. It uses difference in differences approach to capture the impact by comparing with states that are not members. The analysis is performed on several product groups. Third part of the theses describes the influence of eurozone crisis on the convergence. For this it uses time series data analysis to find a break in trend of convergence which would correspond with the crisis. Last part contains summary and discussion of results. These results are compared with result of similar studies.

The role of intellectual property (IP) rights, such as patents, in innovation is the subject of an ongoing debate. Using a sudden shift in the patentability of genomic compounds, this dissertation contributes new evidence to this debate by shedding light on three different roles that patents can play in innovative processes. In three complementary essays, I examine the impact of patents on follow-on innovations, markets for technology, and scientific research. Compiling data on the population of patents on isolated genes, I show that their sudden invalidation has increased innovation in commercialized diagnostic tests, but decreased the cooperative agreements among the biopharmaceutical firms. I further show that these effects are heterogeneous across firms and markets. The results of my analyses, however, present no significant evidence of patents hindering the scientific progress. The findings of this study provide novel contribution to a vigorous academic debate on IP rights and inform policy by discussing the consequences of a recent high-profile ruling on the patent-eligibility of genomic compounds.

Genom en difference-in-differences analys undersöker denna studie hur den finska pälsmarknaden påverkades av avlingen av danska minkar år 2020. I november 2020 upptäcktes coronaviruset hos ett antal danska minkfarmer. För att förhindra smittspridning beslutade sig den danska regeringen för att avliva alla minkar i landet. Totalt avlivades omkring 15,7 miljoner minkar. Innan avlivningen stod Danmark för 40% av den globala minkproduktionen. Enligt ekonomisk teori om utbud och efterfrågan borde denna stora negativa utbudschock som kom av avlivningen av danska minkar, resultera i prishöjningar på substitutvaror till dansk minkpäls. I denna studie utgörs denna substitutvara av minkpäls från Finland. Utifrån teorin förväntas således priset på finsk minkpäls stiga i jämförelse med prisutvecklingen i perioden innan utbudschocken, som en effekt av avlivningen på danska minkar. Resultaten från analysen visar att priset på finsk minkpäls har stigit med 84,75 %. Effekterna från chocken var som störst i juni 2021 med en prisökning på 129,8 %, och började sedan avta. / This study examines how the Finnish fur market was affected by the culling of Danish minks in 2020. This will be evaluated through a difference-in-differences analysis. In November 2020, the coronavirus was discovered at some of Denmark's mink farms. In order to prevent the virus from spreading, the Danish government decided to euthanize all minks in the country - in total around 15,7 million minks. Before the culling, Denmark accounted for 40 % of the global production of mink fur. According to economic theory of supply and demand, this large negative supply shock that came with the culling of Danish mink, should result in a price increase in substitutional goods. In this study, the substitutional good is Finnish mink fur, and the hypothesis will therefore be an increase in prices in mink fur from Finland after the supply shock, compared to the period before. The results show that the price of Finnish mink fur has increased by 84,75 % after the shock. The effect was at its greatest in June 2021, showing a price increase by 129,8 %, which decreased afterwards.