My research seeks to understand the behaviour of workers and firms and how their decisions affect labour market outcomes. My PhD dissertation consists of three separate Chapters that use detailed historical, census and administrative data to gain insights into the mechanisms at play when incentives for production and location decisions change. Chapter 1 asks whether financial incentives can induce inventors to innovate more. I exploit a large reduction in the patent fee in the United Kingdom in 1884 to distinguish between its effect on increased efforts to invent, and a decrease in patent quality due to a lower quality threshold. For this analysis I create a detailed new dataset of 54,000 British inventors with renewal information for each patent. In the longer run high-quality patenting increases by over 100 percent, and the share of new patents due to greater effort accounts for three quarters of the pre-reform share of high-quality patents. To test for the presence of credit constraints I generate two wealth proxies from inventor names and addresses, and find a larger innovation response for inventors with lower wealth. These results indicate efficiency gains from decreasing the cost of inventing and in addition, from relaxing credit constraints. In Chapter 2 we assess the effects of changes in ethnic neighbourhood composition in England and Wales. A change in social housing allocations in the 1990s serves as instrument for changes in the local ethnic composition. For the analysis we create a dataset of highly disaggregated census geographies for 1991-2011. The results imply that an exogenous increase in social housing minority share by 10 percentage points raises the minority share in private housing by 1.2 percentage points initially. This sorting effect is larger for privately rented than for privately owned housing. We further show that an increase in the minority share leads to higher local population growth and a small decrease in house prices in the longer run. Chapter 3 proposes a new approach for analysing responses to comprehensive labour market reforms. Using detailed micro data we evaluate the German Hartz reforms that aimed at reducing unemployment. The timing of the reforms affects the model parameters, which are estimated using matched data on 430,000 workers in 340,000 firms. Contrary to previous findings, our analysis shows that the reforms marginally reduced unemployment at the cost of a pronounced decline in wages. Low-skilled workers suffered the largest wage losses. Furthermore, we decompose the contribution of each reform wave on employment and wages, and document a structural shift in the factors that govern overall wage dispersion.

The thesis deals with the active labour market policy in the Frýdek-Místek district, where is the problem of higher rates of unemployment and long-term unemployment. Active labour policy has an important role in solving the problem of unemployment in the region. The thesis describes the nature of the local labour market and assesses the active employment policy programs used in the years 2006 - 2010 in terms of their impact on employment and employability of participants. In particular, the thesis focuses on retraining, which is one of the most used tools of active employment policy, and monitors the creation of new jobs that directly affect the situation of individuals in the labour market. The thesis evaluates the targeting of retraining, which significantly affects their results. Using statistical data analysis methods are examined gross effects of retraining and monitored the effects of active employment policy to selected target groups of unemployed people.

Economic cycle has significantly affected the national as well as the international labour market and has caused increased unemployment which primarily concerns endangered groups of people on the labour market. This Thesis is based on the hypothesis that persons older than 50 years are more prone to be socially excluded due to long-term unemployment and a more complex return to job than younger groups of people. With respect to the continuous aging population and prolongation of retirement age, it is necessary to analyse the obstacles and options leading to longer job engagement. The theoretical part of the Thesis characterises the labour market and its imperfections using a descriptive method. In the analytical part, effectiveness and purposefulness of the tool of active employment politics in Jindřichův Hradec are investigated. Evaluation of the analysis follows. The major aim of this Diploma Thesis is to identify the status of the social group in question in the Czech labour market via secondary analysis and also to evaluate to what extend active employment politics contributes to such a status in the regional labour market in Jindřichův Hradec.

<p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera huruvida sfi (svenskundervisning för invandrare)-bransch har varit en lyckad socialpolitisk satsning från Linköpings kommuns sida. Med intervjuer som det största empiriska materialet behandlar uppsatsen ämnen som anses vara relevanta för eleven på sfi-bransch. Sfi-bransch framträder som en plats för lärdom men också som en del av en kedja av restriktioner som tillsammans motverkar syftet med sfi, det vill säga att berättiga sig ett arbete och i vidare mening integreras. Uppsatsen diskuterar även enheter som under studien framträtt som betydelsefulla för eleven, utifrån syftet med sfi. Med teoretisk utgångspunkt i Bourdieus symboliska kapital ger sig många intressanta aspekter inom sfi-utbildningen tillkänna.</p> / <p>The aim of this essay is to analyse whether sfi (education in the Swedish language for immigrants)-bransch has been a successful social politic commitment from Linköpings municipality. With interviews as the prime material the essay handles relevant subjects for the student of sfi-bransch. At the same time as sfi-branch appears as a place for learning, it shows a number of paradoxes that seems to work in the opposite direction from the purpose of the education. Several interesting perspectives of sfi-bransch and the students situation, opens up with Pierre Bourdieus theory symbolic capital.</p>

<p>The 1990s were a period of economic crisis and mass unemployment. The dissertation shows that in the labour market policy guidelines in the period 1978–2004, a dichotomy was constructed between, on the one hand, a group of unemployed described in positive terms as potentially able to gain new employment, and, on the other hand, a group – referred to in the dissertation as the Others – whose exclusion and marginalisation were seen as permanent. </p><p>Unemployment has not always been defined as a social problem. The nature of the problem of unemployment has been understood and conceptu­alised differently over time. Frames of interpretation contribute to the construction and/or reproduction of categories of unemployed within the context of active Swedish labour market policies. The point of departure for the study is that the definition of social problems is a complex process of social construction. It is an active process of re(construction), in which certain problems become perceived as social problems while others are not. </p><p>The flexibilisation of the labour market, and of labour market policy, is an institutional and discursive process that leads to new categorisations and otherings on the labour market.<i> </i></p><p>In the wake of the 1990s crisis, and of the more structural transformation of the Swedish labour market, a group of long-term unemployed has emerged. In the official guidelines of the labour market policy, the recommendations are to treat this group within the framework of the measures and activities that earlier applied to groups with disabilities. In this process, the structural labour market problem becomes defined politically in terms of individual disabilities. This is not only a process of individualisation, but also a process of medicalization. In this manner, unemployment, and particularly long-term unemployment, becomes analogous to disability.</p>

The 1990s were a period of economic crisis and mass unemployment. The dissertation shows that in the labour market policy guidelines in the period 1978–2004, a dichotomy was constructed between, on the one hand, a group of unemployed described in positive terms as potentially able to gain new employment, and, on the other hand, a group – referred to in the dissertation as the Others – whose exclusion and marginalisation were seen as permanent. Unemployment has not always been defined as a social problem. The nature of the problem of unemployment has been understood and conceptu­alised differently over time. Frames of interpretation contribute to the construction and/or reproduction of categories of unemployed within the context of active Swedish labour market policies. The point of departure for the study is that the definition of social problems is a complex process of social construction. It is an active process of re(construction), in which certain problems become perceived as social problems while others are not. The flexibilisation of the labour market, and of labour market policy, is an institutional and discursive process that leads to new categorisations and otherings on the labour market. In the wake of the 1990s crisis, and of the more structural transformation of the Swedish labour market, a group of long-term unemployed has emerged. In the official guidelines of the labour market policy, the recommendations are to treat this group within the framework of the measures and activities that earlier applied to groups with disabilities. In this process, the structural labour market problem becomes defined politically in terms of individual disabilities. This is not only a process of individualisation, but also a process of medicalization. In this manner, unemployment, and particularly long-term unemployment, becomes analogous to disability.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera huruvida sfi (svenskundervisning för invandrare)-bransch har varit en lyckad socialpolitisk satsning från Linköpings kommuns sida. Med intervjuer som det största empiriska materialet behandlar uppsatsen ämnen som anses vara relevanta för eleven på sfi-bransch. Sfi-bransch framträder som en plats för lärdom men också som en del av en kedja av restriktioner som tillsammans motverkar syftet med sfi, det vill säga att berättiga sig ett arbete och i vidare mening integreras. Uppsatsen diskuterar även enheter som under studien framträtt som betydelsefulla för eleven, utifrån syftet med sfi. Med teoretisk utgångspunkt i Bourdieus symboliska kapital ger sig många intressanta aspekter inom sfi-utbildningen tillkänna. / The aim of this essay is to analyse whether sfi (education in the Swedish language for immigrants)-bransch has been a successful social politic commitment from Linköpings municipality. With interviews as the prime material the essay handles relevant subjects for the student of sfi-bransch. At the same time as sfi-branch appears as a place for learning, it shows a number of paradoxes that seems to work in the opposite direction from the purpose of the education. Several interesting perspectives of sfi-bransch and the students situation, opens up with Pierre Bourdieus theory symbolic capital.

Avhandlingen belyser vad som hänt i svensk integrationspolitik sedan etableringsreformen genomfördes 2010 och ansvaret för flyktingmottagandet överfördes till Arbetsförmedlingen. Utöver förändringen som Arbetsförmedlingens ansvar innebar medförde reformen också ökad marknadsorientering, införande av valfrihetssystem, villkorad aktiveringspolitik samt andra genomgripande organisatoriska förändringar. I fokus står aktörer som på olika sätt har makt att påverka hur integrationspolitiken görs i praktiken. Studien analyserar vad som händer när privata företag bedriver arbetsförmedlande verksamheter där ersättningen kopplas till uppnådda resultat. Vidare analyseras betydelsen av ”svenskhet” i görandet av integrationspolitik. Avhandlingen är etnografisk och det empiriska materialet består av intervjuer och observationer med individer som arbetar på arbetsförmedlingskontor, som etableringslotsar samt samhällskommunikatörer på utbildningsföretag. Genom att syntetisera teorier om gatubyråkratier med en intersektionell ansats visar avhandlingen att görandet av integrationspolitik också är ett görande av ojämlikheter som grundas i stereotypa bilder av ”svenskhet” och ”invandrarskap”. Studien visar vidare hur föreställningen om Sverige som jämställd nation påverkar hur politiken görs. I analysen framkommer att de strategier som arbetsförmedlarna utvecklar för att hantera de krav som ställs på dem, i form av aktivering och resultat, inte leder till att de nyanlända kommer närmare arbetsmarknaden. Studien visar även att privata företag prioriterar resultat, lönsamhet och satsar på de nyanlända som de lättast kan nå resultat med. / This dissertation examines how Swedish integration politics have been affected by the Establishment Reform 2010 and the transfer of responsibility for refugee reception to the Swedish Employment Service. In addition to the changes wrought by the transfer of responsibility, the reform also brought an increase in market orientation, the implementation of systems of choice, a conditional activation policy and other fundamental organizational changes. The focus is on actors who, in different ways, have the power to influence how integration policy work is done in practice. The study analyzes what happens when private companies run employment service activities where financial support is contingent upon results, as well as the significance of “Swedishness” in the shaping of integration policy. The dissertation is an ethnographic one, and the empirical materials consist of interviews with and observations of individuals who work as employment service officials, establishment pilots, and civic orientation guides. By synthesizing theories on street-level bureaucracies with an intersectional approach, the dissertation shows that the making of integration policy is also a making of inequalities which are based on stereotypical images of “Swedishness” and “immigranthood”. Moreover, the study shows how policy-making is influenced by the perception of Sweden being a gender-equal nation. The analysis makes it clear that the strategies developed by the employment service officials, in order to live up to the requirements imposed upon them regarding activation and results, do not lead to newly arrived immigrants getting closer to entering the labour market. The study also shows that private companies prioritize results and profitability, and focus on the new arrivals with whom they can easiest attain results.

This thesis advances our understanding of how ideas play a role in policy making by examining the processes and conditions that facilitate their international diffusion into domestic debates, their acceptance by policy actors, and the ways in which their acceptance alters policy processes and policy itself. Specifically, the thesis studies the impact of labour market policy ideas from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and its large-scale study on unemployment, the Jobs Study, in three OECD member states: Canada, Denmark and Sweden. This thesis shows that ideas play a number of roles: sometimes they are simply employed to help legitimize pre-determined policy positions; but sometimes a process of learning takes place, and new ideas change actors’ beliefs about what is and what ought to be, and as well their conception of their own interests and goals. Consistent with previous research, policy failure and uncertainty open actors up to the policy learning process and acceptance of new ideas. More than earlier studies, however, this thesis highlights the role of pre-existing beliefs. Accepting one new idea over another is largely determined by the values and beliefs actors bring to bear when judging new ideas; and thus, the cases show a pattern of acceptance for OECD ideas that largely follows along professional boundaries and/or ideological leanings. Moreover, pre-existing beliefs that are intertwined with an actor’s identity tend to be more resistant to change. As other ideational scholars argue, a change in individuals’ beliefs can alter both the policy process and policy itself. When acceptance of an idea is widespread, problems of collective action can be overcome. When beliefs are not as widely shared, their impact on policy depends on many factors. Fragmentation of power and accountability can create “veto players,” and previous policies can create constituencies of supporters, some of whom may resist change. However, during a policy paradigm change, a shift in authority over policy can alter the political landscape and whose ideas matter. Given all these variables, the impact that a belief in new ideas can have on policy is highly mediated, and policy reforms, therefore, may not resemble the ideas which triggered the acceptance of change in the first place. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2011-01-31 12:49:18.185

This work is focused at the unemployment analysis in Prachatice and Čestký Krumlov districts in 2010 and considering of the locality impact on active labour market policy efficiency. The work should provide comprehensive view of ways and possibilities to solve unemployment at local labour markets. It should examine suitability of used tools of active labour market policy for particular groups of job applicants and confirm their importance for unemployment cutting, mainly at monitored groups of job applicants which are most endangered in labour market.