I investigate the gender wage gap in Italy during the period 1987-2016. The analysis takes advantage of quantile regression framework to estimate gender pay differentials along the wage distribution. The observed gaps show U-shaped patterns during the entire period. The inclusion of control variables in the model leads to a flattening of the gender differentials, maintaining evidence of sticky floor effects. I examine the gap in five geographical areas, revealing heterogeneous results across the country and finding glass ceiling effects in the North, sticky floor effect in the South and a U-shaped pattern in the Islands. I use a quantile regression decomposition approach to investigate whether the male-female wage differentials are ascribable to differences in labour market attributes by gender or to differences in the rewards they receive for those characteristics. The evidence suggests that the sticky floor effects, found at national level, are mainly due to discrepancies in the returns received by male and female workers for their attributes.

In the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, a public debate both whether membership in the European Union and the implementation of the euro, by joining the European Monetary Union provide economic benefits, is heating up and is a popular topic within the political scene. This has resulted in member states starting to doubt if it makes fiscal sense to stay in the union. However, the existing studies unanimously point towards the EU has a positive effect on growth. Our study analyzes and attempts to conclude if there is economic convergence within the European Union. We also differentiate between countries adopting the euro in addition to EU memberships in order to see if they provide additional growth effects. The time frame ofthe model is between 1995 and 2017. During these 22 years, the study concludes economic convergence within the EU, which is especially desirable for developing countries. However, we found no supporting evidence of joining the EMU to have neither lower nor higher growth. By returning to the public debate, we would favor joining the European Union but be hesitant to adopt the euro by joining the common currency area.

In this paper, I evaluate whether salience induces loss aversion among taxpayers. Using annual register data from 2013-2017 for taxpayers reporting tradable securities, E-filing taxpayers are shown to exhibit bunching on the surplus side of the zero final tax balance. A corresponding excess mass is not found for paper filers. Considering previous evidence and theoretical predictions, this points in the direction of loss aversion induced by salience in the E-filing service. Further, the E-filing service reduces capital gains of taxpayers by on average 24%. However, this paper cannot clearly identify whether E-filers use manipulation of capital reports to evade taxes. The decrease in capital gains can to a negligible extent be attributed to assistance by the E-filing service in reducing suboptimal choice in the calculation of buying prices, resulting in legal reductions of capital gains.

Denna studie undersöker faktorer som påverkar de svenska hushållens sparkvot. I studien definieras sparkvoten som andelen av den disponibla inkomsten som inte konsumeras. Med utgångspunkt i ekonomiska teorier i form av livscykelhypotesen och Ricardiansk ekvivalens samt tidigare studier i ämnet har vi tagit fram sex relevanta variabler för att undersöka svenska hushållens sparkvot. Data samlades in årligen för samtliga variabler på aggregerad nivå för tidsperioden 1970 till och med 2017. De oberoende variablerna som tagits fram och används i studien är inflation, BNP tillväxt per capita, ränta, arbetslöshet, försörjningskvot och svenska statens budgetbalans. För att undersöka hur de oberoende variablerna påverkar svenska hushållens sparkvot används en ekonometrisk metod i form av OLS. Fyra ekonometriska modeller användes för att estimera hur de oberoende variablerna påverkar svenska hushållens sparkvot under tidsperioden. Resultaten av studien visar att ingen av de oberoende variablerna hade statistiskt signifikant effekt i förhållande till svenska hushållens sparkvot med hänsyn till att kravet om stationäritet uppfylls. Däremot var det några variabler som visade sig ha en praktiskt och statistiskt signifikant effekt i relation till svenska hushållens sparkvot ifall stationäritet ignoreras. / This study examines factors that affect the Swedish households’ savings ratio. The savings ratio is defined in this paper as the share of disposable income that is not consumed. Based on economic theories such as the Life Cycle hypothesis and Ricardian equivalence together with previous studies on the subject, we have developed six relevant variables for the study. The data were collected for all variables aggregated annually for the period 1970- 2017. The independent variables used in the study are: inflation, GDP growth per capita, interest rate, unemployment, dependency ratio (demography) and the budget balance of the Swedish state. In order to investigate how the independent variables affect the dependent variable, an econometric method in the form of OLS will be used. Four econometric models were used to estimate how the independent variables affect Swedish households’ savings ratio during the period. The results of the study show that no variable had a statistically significant effect in relation to the Swedish households’ savings ratio, with respect to the requirement for stationarity in the variables to be fulfilled. However, there were some variables that proved to have a practical and statistically significant effect in relation to the Swedish households’ savings ratio if stationarity is ignored.

The issue of population ageing becomes more prominent, countries will see a change in the population structure where a majority will belong to the cohort aged 65 and over. This shift in the population structure raises challenges which in turn will affect a country’s economic growth. In the future a larger share of people will enter retirement than ever before, and being able to keep individuals to stay in the labour force is one attempt which can increase the economic growth. Today, elderly tend to retire before the withdrawal age which in many countries is set to 65. The purpose of this research is to identify which factors affect individual’s average age at which they tend to retire. This is conducted by the use of a cross-sectional analysis based upon the 36 member countries of OECD where data has been collected from the year 2016. By the use of an Ordinary Least Squares method, results show that factors such as education, old- age dependency ratio, and average salaries are significant factors which all impacts the average retirement age negatively.

The first law regarding the protection of Swedish forests was implemented in 1903 and the scope has only ever increased since then. By the 1990s a new method of forest protection was founded in the form of FSC and later also PEFC certification programs. These provide a market-based approach to forest protection by through the use of price premiums incentivize forest owners to participate in voluntary forest conservation. 63% of Swedish productive forests was certified in 2017 and this number has potential to increase which can have significant implications for future forest supply. In this study I use an area-based matrix model on NFI data within the EFDM software to simulate forest supply in the next 100 years in two management scenarios: Current practices and if all forest is managed according to the FSC and PEFC standard. The timber stock is simulated to grow faster when all forest is certified and reach a stable level that is 101 mill. m3sk greater than if forests are managed as today. Harvests are simulated to grow in a similar way but remain lower when all forests are certified than if managed according to current practices. The difference does however decrease slightly as the simulation progresses. The levels of harvest are simulated at substantially lower levels in both scenarios than actual levels due to insufficient information on management in NFI data, indicating a necessity for external information to compliment the NFI.

The international literature on M&As is extensive, but evidence from the Nordic countries is scarce. The primary focus of this study is to examine whether the short-term performance of Nordic bidders is affected by the announcement of M&As conducted within the finance, insurance and real estate industry. This study analyzes 173 deals conducted between 01-01-2000 and 12-31-2018. An event study was conducted to isolate the abnormal returns resulting from M&A announcements, followed by a multiple regression analysis. The multiple regression analysis was used to gain further knowledge about performance factors influencing cumulative abnormal return (CAR), considering (1) payment method, (2) cross-border versus domestic deals, (3) market capitalization and (4) relative size. No evidence is found that the method of payment influences bidder abnormal return, whereas cross-border versus domestic transactions are found to influence Nordic countries differently. Market capitalization impact CAR negatively, moreover relative size is found to impact CAR positively in a majority of the cases.

No description available.

In this thesis I investigate if an increase in reported crimes has a negative effect on interpersonal trust and trust in the police force in Sweden. Using a linear fixed effects model, I look at reported crime on the county level over the past 30 years and try to isolate the effect of reported crime on trust. The significance of the results are sensitive to changes in the model specification, the coefficients are small, and even though the signs of the coefficients are in line with the hypothesis, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from the data on how reported crime affects trust in Sweden. Further research with additional data is needed to better analyze the consequences of crime for trust in society.

Sverige nådde 2018 den högsta nivån av ekonomisk ojämlikhet och det finns svenska studier som har undersökt sambandet mellan kriminalitet och ekonomisk ojämlikhet på individnivå och därför har vi i vår studie studerat svenska län. Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka och analysera bestämningsfaktorer till kriminalitet med fokus på effekten av ekonomisk ojämlikhet under perioden 2000–2014. Har ekonomisk ojämlikhet och våra övriga bestämningsfaktorer en signifikant effekt på antalet brott som begås i Sverige? För att besvara våra frågeställningar gjordes en ekonometrisk modell och med hjälp av paneldata undersökte vi hur ekonomisk ojämlikhet, invandring, inkomst, sysselsättning, utbildning, ålder, kön och befolkningstäthet påverkar olika typer av brott. De brottskategorier som har undersökts är stöld, rån, försökt till mord och dråp, misshandel och narkotikabrott. Vi har dragit slutsatsen att minskad ekonomisk ojämlikhet leder till en minskning av antalet förmögenhetsbrott, i form av rån och stöld, och att det finns en svag negativ effekt på grövre våldsbrott. Däremot tycks effekten på narkotikabrott vara positiv men med en justering för tidseffekt blir dessa estimat ej längre signifikanta. De övriga bestämningsfaktorerna hade en varierande effekt på antalet brott. Ökad invandring ledde till färre misshandelsfall och narkotikabrott men till en ökning av antalet stölder, rån samt mord och dråp. Inkomst hade en negativ effekt på stöld och rån samt men effekten var positiv för misshandel och narkotikabrott. En ökad nivå av sysselsättning ledde till färre rån, narkotikabrott och misshandelsfall men för stöld fick vi en signifikant positiv effekt. Effekten av en ökad andel av befolkningen med eftergymnasial utbildning var oklar och vi hittade inget tydligt samband till förmögenhetsbrotten. Befolkningstäthet hade störst effekt på förmögenhetsbrotten och vi konstaterade att det blir fler rån, stölder och narkotikabrott om befolkningstätheten ökar. Effekterna från ålder och könlyckades vi inte representera väl i vår studie och vi har dragit slutsatsen att den effekten bättre fångas upp i en studie på individnivå.