Essay I (with Mattias Öhman): Fluoridation of the drinking water is a public policy whose aim is to improve dental health. Although the evidence is clear that fluoride is good for dental health, concerns have been raised regarding potential negative effects on cognitive development. We study the effects of fluoride exposure through the drinking water in early life on cognitive and non-cognitive ability, education and labor market outcomes in a large-scale setting. We use a rich Swedish register dataset for the cohorts born 1985-1992, together with drinking water fluoride data. To estimate the effect we exploit intra-municipality variation of fluoride, stemming from an exogenous variation in the bedrock. First, we investigate and confirm the long-established positive relationship between fluoride and dental health. Second, we find precisely estimated zero effects on cognitive ability, non-cognitive ability and education. We do not find any evidence that fluoride levels below 1.5 mg/l have negative effects. Third, we find evidence that fluoride improves labor market outcome later in life, which indicates that good dental health is a positive factor on the labor market. / Essay II: Motivated by the intense public debate in the United States regarding politicians’ backgrounds, I investigate the effects of electing a candidate with earlier experience from elective office to the House of Representatives. The U.S. two-party-system with single-member election districts enables me to estimate the causal effect in a RD design where the outcomes are measured at the election district level. I find some indications that candidates with earlier elective experience are more likely to be members of important congressional committees. I also find some indications that directed federal spending (pork barrel spending) is higher in those districts were the elected representative had earlier elective experience prior of being elected to the House, but the effect manifests itself some years after the election. In contrast, I find no robust or statistically significant effects for personal income per capita or unemployment rate in the home district. / Essay III: This paper uses Swedish and Finnish municipal data to investigate the effect of changes in voter turnout on the tax rate, public spending and vote-shares. A reform in Sweden in 1970, which overall lowered the cost of voting, is applied as an instrument for voter turnout in local elections. The reform increased voter turnout in Sweden. The higher voter turnout resulted in higher municipal taxes and greater per capita local public spending. There are also indications that higher turnout decreased the vote share for right-wing parties. I use an individual survey data set to conclude that it was in particular low income earners that began to vote to a greater extent after the reform. / Essay IV (with Lovisa Persson): In a theoretical model where voters and politicians have different preferences for how much to spend on basic welfare services contra reception services for asylum seekers, we conclude that established politicians that are challenged by right-wing populists will implement a policy with no spending on asylum seekers if the cost is high enough. Additionally, adjustment to right-wing populist policy is more likely when the economy is in a recession. Voters differ in their level of private consumption in such a way that lower private consumption implies higher demand for basic welfare services at the expense of reception of asylum seekers, and thus stronger disposition to support right-wing populist policies. We propose that this within-budget-distributional conflict can arise as an electorally decisive conflict dimension if parties have converged to the median voter on the size-of-government issue.

If you have an idea about applying a proven technology to improve the processes in a new area of society, what does it take to implement it in a way that it has wide impact and endures? This is a relevant question particularly now, at the dawn of the age of 'big data', as information and communication technologies are adopted in many areas to harness the ability to collect, retrieve and analyse large amounts of information, and be made available at the level of individual users. Extraordinarily powerful devices developed in recent years offer much promise, but as many examples, such as Betamax, WAP-technology, HD DVD and netbooks, show that even potent technologies may fail to gain predominance and survive. The concept of institutional entrepreneurship is a useful framework to analyse these complex issues as it embodies a comprehensive analytical perspective, combining attention to the institutional environment as well as to the efforts by interested and re-sourced actors. I use this concept to I investigate the efforts to introduce mobile technology into health care in England and Finland. I employ a distinct research strategy that avoids a retrospective bias, through the collection and analysis of qualitative data before known outcomes, from a wide range of technology, care, regulatory and intermediary organisations. I uncover some of the difficulties to technology adoption and develop arguments about the types of efforts and the impact of context at the early moment stage that contribute to the further development of the concept of institutional entrepreneurship.

This thesis deals with the issue of equal educational opportunities in Finland. Both, Czech and foreign sources as well as my own research data were used for the purpose of this study. The main objectives are to find the answers to the questions of how the idea of equal opportunities in education is carried out at different stages of the Finnish educational system, what is the role of comprehensive school, which specific tools are used for addressing the equity issues systematically or what is the opinion of our experts on the possible inspiration from the Finnish educational model in the Czech conditions. Using the comparison of results of the PISA assessment programme I am trying to reveal the positive and negative effects of two different types of primary schools - comprehensive in Finland and selective in the Czech Republic - mainly focusing on the field of distribution of equal educational opportunities.

À partir de l'exemple du phénomène des batucadas en France et en Europe, cette thèse propose d'explorer des processus d'appropriations culturelles de modèles musicaux brésiliens, en particuliers ceux du samba enredo carioca, du samba- reggae bahianais et du maracatu recifense. L'ethnographie, entreprise entre 2000 et 2010, se compose de nombreux récits de vie et entretiens semi-directifs réalisés auprès d'amateurs de percussions brésiliennes et de musiciens professionnels (français et brésiliens) ; d'observations de pratiques musicales en Europe et au Brésil ; de participations de l'ethnographe à des projets artistiques dans le sud de la France. À rebours d'une approche historique de l'objet diffusé, ce travail propose de restituer des parcours d'appropriations en partant de l'émergence et du déploiement de la batucada en France. Sont abordés plusieurs champs de l'appropriation musicale : la forme instrumentale de la batucada, les modèles brésiliens, et les postures artistiques vis-à-vis de ces modèles qui révèlent une recherche commune d'une pratique culturelle « populaire », vivante et festive. Des représentations idéalisées du Brésil, de ses musiques et de ses carnavals semblent répondre à cette quête. Les voyages vers les sources musicales au Brésil tendent à devenir une étape importante de l'appropriation musicale européenne et leur observation permet de mettre en exergue les enjeux sociaux et culturels entre Brésiliens et étrangers autour des transmissions musicales (...) Enfin, l'appropriation de la batucada permet d'ouvrir un débat général sur l'appropriation culturelle dans le contexte de la mondialisation. / Using the example of the batucada phenomenon in France and Europe, this thesis explores the processes of cultural appropriation of Brazilian musical models, in particular those of Rio's samba enredo, Bahia's samba-reggae and Recife's maracatu. The ethnographic fieldwork, conducted during the first decade of 2000, is composed of: numerous life stories and semi-structured interviews with French and Brazilian amateur percussionists and professional musicians, observations of musical practices in Europe and Brazil, and participating observations in the framework of artistic projects in the South of France. Rather than taking a historical approach of the diffusion of objects, this work analyzes the trajectories of the appropriations of batucada in France, from its emergence to its spread. Several fields of musical appropriation are broached: the instrumental form of the batucada, the Brazilian musical models, and the artistic positions taken regarding these models which reveal a common quest for a “popular”, lively and festive cultural practice. Idealized representations of Brazil, its music and its carnivals seem to respond to this quest. Travels to the musical sources in Brazil appear as an important step in the Europeans’ musical appropriation. Observation of these travels allows underscoring the social and cultural stakes of musical transmissions between Brazilians and foreigners. Lastly, the appropriation of batucada enables enlarging a general debate on cultural appropriation in a context of globalization.

The movement towards developing existing education systems to be more inclusive can be seen worldwide. However, even in a country such as Finland where inclusive ideology has been promoted in national policies for a considerable time, there are existing needs for development that need to be examined. The aim of this systematic review was to examine these existing needs for development in primary schools in Finland. Inclusive education means the inclusion of all children. In this systematic review, the focus was on those children in risk of exclusion with special educational needs due to a disability. The results are analyzed by utilizing a framework inspired by the framework developed by Ainscow and Miles (2009). The results show that there are several needs for development especially related to systems and structures, and practice. Furthermore, more systematic actions are needed moving from policies to effective implementation of inclusive practices. Overall, inclusion is a complex concept and future research conducted with diverse groups of children of all ages is greatly needed.

Abstract Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are described as a variety of dysfunctions and pains related to the masticatory system. Clicking in the temporomandibular joints (TMJs) and pain in the masticatory muscles are the most common symptoms and signs of TMD. Other frequently reported symptoms are headache, facial pain, and symptoms in the ears. The prevalence of TMD signs in the adult population has been shown to vary between 33% and 86%, being more common in women than in men. TMD has been found to be most prevalent at 20–50 years of age. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the prevalence of TMD and associated risk factors in the Finnish adult population based on the Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC) 1966. Altogether 1 962 cohort subjects at the age of 46 years (1 050 women, 912 men) responded to questionnaires and participated in a clinical medical and dental examination in 2012–2013. The stomatognathic examination was performed according to a modified protocol of diagnostic criteria for TMD (DC/TMD). The prevalence of TMD signs among the examined cohort subjects was 34.2%; women had clinical signs of TMD more often than men. Clinical signs were registered more often than self-reported TMD symptoms. The most common clinical signs were clicking in the TMJs (26.2%) and palpation pain in the masticatory muscles (11.2%). The most common diagnosis was disc displacement with reduction (7.0%). TMD signs were associated with unstable occlusion. Occlusal disturbances were associated with palpation pain in the masticatory muscles, as well as myalgia and arthralgia diagnoses. Pain-related TMD symptoms and clinical signs correlated strongly with a poor self-reported health condition as well as with painful general health problems. / Tiivistelmä Purentaelimistön toimintahäiriöt (engl. temporomandibular disorders, TMD) on yhteisnimitys leukanivelten, puremalihasten, hampaiston ja niihin liittyvien kudosten sairaus- ja kiputiloille. Leukanivelen naksuminen ja kipu purentaelimistön alueella ovat tavallisimmat oireet, mutta myös päänsärky, kasvokipu ja korvaoireet ovat yleisiä TMD-potilailla. Väestötutkimuksissa on havaittu suurta vaihtelua TMD:n esiintyvyydessä (33–86 %). TMD:n oireita sekä löydöksiä todetaan tavallisimmin 20–50-vuotiailla ja naisilla enemmän kuin miehillä. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää TMD:n esiintyvyyttä ja riskitekijöitä suomalaisessa aikuisväestössä Pohjois-Suomen syntymäkohortti 1966:n (Northern Finland Birth Cohort, NFBC) aineistossa. Vuosina 2012–2013 tutkittiin 1 962 kohortin henkilöä 46 vuoden ikäisinä (1 050 naista, 912 miestä). Tutkimus koostui kyselyistä sekä lääketieteellisestä ja suun terveydentilan kliinisestä tutkimuksesta. Purentaelimistön tutkimuksessa käytettiin kansainvälistä TMD:n diagnostista kriteeristöä (engl. diagnostic criteria for TMD, DC/TMD). TMD-löydösten esiintyvyys tutkitussa kohorttiaineistossa oli 34,2 %. Kliiniset löydökset tutkituilla henkilöillä olivat yleisempiä kuin heidän raportoimansa oireet. Yleisimmät löydökset olivat leukanivelen naksuminen (26,2 %) ja palpaatiokipu puremalihaksissa (11,2 %). Yleisin diagnoosi oli leukanivelen välilevyn palautuva virheasento (7,0 %). TMD-löydösten ja epästabiilin purennan välillä havaittiin yhteys. Purennassa olevien häiriöiden ja puremalihasten palpaatiokivun sekä leukanivelkivun välillä todettiin selvä yhteys. TMD-löydöksillä ja niihin liittyvillä kivuilla havaittiin tilastollisesti merkitsevä yhteys koettuun heikentyneeseen terveydentilaan sekä kivuliaisiin yleissairauksiin.

Esta tese propõe analisar os desafios e oportunidades inerentes ao fenômeno recente e em expansão da Economia do Compartilhamento (Sharing Economy), que coloca em questionamento as práticas de consumo e posse dos objetos, assim como o papel do design em fomentar tais práticas. A pesquisa fundamenta-se sob o paradigma interpretativo, com abordagem predominantemente qualitativa e estudo fenomenológico enquanto método. A narrativa construída neste trabalho inicia-se com a exploração de possibilidades de leitura do objeto de estudo a partir de referências teóricas que apontam a necessidade de mudanças na forma de produção e consumo, assim como no papel do design frente à questão da sustentabilidade como ponto de partida, passando pela descrição do fenômeno emergente da Economia do Compartilhamento, que surge como uma das possíveis respostas para tal necessidade, culminando na reflexão sobre os aspectos do materialismo e do altruísmo no consumo, com apoio de autores que tratam do apego e da construção do self por meio das posses à luz da Teoria da Cultura do Consumidor (CCT). O caminho inverso é proposto na descrição e análise dos dados coletados na pesquisa de campo como forma de explorar motivações, barreiras e oportunidades para adoção de práticas de uso compartilhado a partir de três óticas principais, que ajudam a construir uma fotografia panorâmica da investigação: parte-se da relação entre pessoas e objetos em práticas espontâneas de compartilhamento e de posse que sugerem motivações para adotar ou rejeitar tais práticas, fundamentadas no apego, na construção do self e do pertencimento. Em seguida, são analisadas práticas de compartilhamento de produtos mediadas por serviços no Brasil e na Finlândia, descrevendo-se as barreiras e oportunidades para essas ofertas, sob a perspectiva de gestores desses serviços e o aprofundamento de um desses casos baseado na percepção das usuárias. Por fim, traz-se a reflexão crítica sobre o design para o compartilhamento, a partir de entrevistas com teóricos e praticantes em áreas correlatas ao tema desta investigação. A trajetória percorrida revela inconsistências, ambivalências e contradições teóricas e práticas que se inter-relacionam com desafios e oportunidades para a promoção do uso compartilhado, delineando-se, assim, contribuições para o campo teórico e prático do design a partir das três óticas propostas para observação do fenômeno investigado. / This dissertation proposes the analysis of the challenges and opportunities inherent to the recent and growing phenomenon of Sharing Economy, which raises questions concerning the practices of consumption and usage of objects, as well as the role of design regarding the promotion of such practices. This research bases itself on the interpretative paradigm, using a predominantly qualitative approach and a phenomenological study as method. The narrative which was built in this work starts with the exploration of possibilities of reading the object of study through theoretical background, which indicated the need of changes in the manner of production and consumption, as well as the role of design regarding the sustainability issue, as a starting point, then going through the description of the emerging phenomenon of Sharing Economy, which arises as one of the possible answers to such need, culminating on the reflection about the aspects of materialism and altruism on consumption, supported by authors which discuss attachment and the development of self through possession in light of the Consumer Culture Theory (CCT). The opposite way is proposed on the description and analysis of the data collected on the field research as a way of exploring motivation, barriers and opportunities for the adoption of practices of shared usage through three main point of views, which helps building a panoramic picture of the investigation: it starts with the relations between people and objects on spontaneous practices of sharing and possession, which suggests motivation to adopt or reject such practices based on attachment, development of self and sense of belonging. After that, product sharing practices mediated by services in Brazil and Finland were analyzed, describing the barriers and opportunities for theses offers, using the perspective of managers of these services and the deepening of one of those cases based on the perception of the users. Lastly, a critical reflection is proposed about design for sharing, through interviews with theorists and practitioners of areas of knowledge correlated to the subject of this investigation. The path taken shows inconsistencies, dubious interpretations and theoretical and practical contradictions which are interrelated with challenges and opportunities for the promotion of shared usage thus outlining contributions for the theoretical and practical fields of design through the three points of view proposed for the observation of the investigated phenomenon.

In the old university of Turku there were written about 4 400 theses. About 1100 of them havefound their way to Linköping in Sweden. This paper describes these theses, new variants whichwere found and some characteristics of their provenance. They are compared with the largebibliography over theses from Turku by Vallinkoski. A couple of theses with completeinformation which have not been available since 1827 were found. Several new variants werefound and together with the known variants they have increased our knowledge about use oftheses by students. Different variants could be designed to thank people at the Academy and inTurku, to thank people at home in Sweden who have contributed to the costsome studies andvery often to the bishop of the students home-diocese. There are even examples of wbichdifferent variants were printed for different dioceses.Theses from time before 1713 are quite few, about 150. They seem to have come to the libraryby private persons, mostly by priests who studied in Turku. No signs of other forms of distributioncan be seen.There are many more theses from the period 1722-1827. The collection is anonymous withhundreds of theses which never have been opened. This and other facts indicate amassdistribution. The author presumes that this massdistribution is connected with the exchangeof publications that started in Sweden in the 1740s initiated by the Uppsala university.

The Nordic countries are geographically, culturally and politically close, and have all witnessed an upsurge in support for radical right-wing parties over the past decades. Although the five parties: the Danish People’s Party, the Finns Party, the Icelandic Progressive Party, the Norwegian Progress Party, and the Sweden Democrats, are different when it comes to party history and how accepted they have been by other parties, they are today similar in their anti-immigration rhetoric, their critique of the established elites and to some extent their welfare chauvinism. According to theories on radical right-wing parties and environmental attitudes, caring for nature and the environment would make a person less probable to vote for a radical right-wing party. Using data from the European Social Survey, the relationship between environmental attitudes and radical right-wing support is examined. The initial results support this thesis, but when adding control variables the relationship is no longer significant. However, when looking at the countries separately, it shows that the relationship between environmental values and radical right-wing voting varies across the Nordic countries. Here, Norway stands out as the country with the strongest negative relationship between environmental values and support for radical right-wing parties.

Abstract This narrative research focuses on teachers’ perceptions of autonomy because of its importance to job commitment, efficiency, satisfaction, and motivation. A positive perception of autonomy relates to teachers’ feelings of competency, empowerment and professionalism. The overall importance of and desire for autonomy may be symptomatic of teachers’ reactions to obtain more, or to keep the autonomy they have. Previous studies have often depicted teacher autonomy as individualistic, comprising freedom from control. However, this research challenges the appropriateness of this conceptualisation of teacher autonomy by asking how upper-secondary school mathematics teachers perceive their autonomy in different contexts. To display contextual variations, the interviews with 15 upper-secondary school mathematics teachers from Canada and 12 from Finland were based mainly on open-ended questions. The contents of the teachers’ narratives were analysed in their whole and by comparing categories of narratives from one context to another. The findings suggest that context influences how teachers perceive their autonomy. They also reveal that trust plays a decisive role in whether teachers feel autonomous or not, that trust plays a central to the relationships teachers have at work, and that autonomy inextricably exists in relations. Consequently, this research claims that the spectrum of autonomy for teachers should be expanded beyond its current individuality, to include a broader, more relational understanding of autonomy. A core argument of this research is therefore that teacher autonomy needs to be reconceptualised as relying on contextual sensitivities and relationships. By providing a more comprehensive conceptualisation of teacher autonomy—i.e., one which is more context-sensitive and which focuses on teachers’ concerns—the findings of this research supports more empowering ways for teachers to exert a proactive influence on their own autonomy. Teachers’ perception of their autonomy is of practical and academic importance. Teachers who feel satisfied, supported, empowered and autonomous are more committed and motivated, which in turn advances better, more adaptive, and more adequate teacher education. / Tiivistelmä Tämän narratiivisen tutkimuksen kohteena ovat opettajien käsitykset autonomiasta. Ne ovat tärkeitä työhön sitoutumisen, tehokkuuden, tyytyväisyyden, ja motivaation kannalta. Myönteisellä käsityksellä autonomiasta on merkitystä opettajien tuntemuksiin pätevyydestä, voimaantumisesta ja ammattitaidosta. Autonomian arvostaminen ja tarve autonomiaan voivat kertoa opettajien halusta pitää kiinni autonomiastaan tai lisätä sen määrää. Aiempi kirjallisuus kuvaa opettajan autonomiaa yksilökeskeisenä, vapaana ulkopuolisesta kontrollista. Tämä tutkimus haastaa yksilökeskeisen näkemyksen kysymällä, miten lukion opettajat eri konteksteista kokevat autonomiansa. Kontekstuaalisten vaihtelujen tutkimista varten haastateltiin 15 lukion matematiikan opettajaa Kanadasta ja 12 lukion matematiikan opettajaa Suomesta esittämällä heille enimmäkseen avoimia kysymyksiä. Opettajien narratiivien sisällöt analysoitiin kokonaisuudessaan ja vertaamalla kategorioita kontekstien välillä. Tuloksista voidaan päätellä, että konteksti vaikuttaa merkittävästi siihen, miten opettajat kokevat autonomian. Luottamuksella on keskeinen merkitys sille, tuntevatko opettajat itsensä autonomisiksi toimijoiksi vai eivät. Lisäksi havaittiin, että luottamuksella on suuri merkitys työympäristön ihmissuhteissa, ja että autonomia on erottamaton osa näitä suhteita. Näin ollen tutkimuksen johtopäätöksissä esitetään, että autonomian käsitteen kirjoa tulisi laajentaa nykyisestä yksilökeskeisestä painotuksesta laveampaan määrittelyyn. Tämän tutkimuksen keskeinen väite on, että opettajan autonomiaa käsitteenä tulisi tarkastella uudelleen huomioimalla erilaiset kontekstit ja ihmissuhteet. Painottamalla kokonaisvaltaisempaa näkemystä opettajien autonomiasta, toisin sanoen huomioonottamalla kontekstin ja opettajien omat huolenaiheet, tämän tutkimuksen tulokset viittaavat tarpeeseen opettajien voimaannuttamisesta, jotta he voivat proaktiivisesti vaikuttaa omaan autonomiaansa Opettajien käsityksillä autonomiasta on merkitystä sekä käytännön että teorian kehittämisen näkökulmista. Työssään tyytyväinen, tuettu, voimaantunut ja itsenäinen opettaja on sitoutunut ja motivoitunut. Opettajien autonomiaan liittyvien käsitysten parempi ymmärtäminen edesauttaa opettajankoulutuksen kehittämistä.