Since the end of World War II, oil price shocks and its impact on the economy have been a hot topic among economic researchers and agents. The price of oil has experienced several fluctuations during the late 20th century and the initial empirical findings suggest that these unexpected changes have several negative effects within countries’ economies. However, most of the research apply only on oil-importing countries and the same results from oil shocks aren´t expected for oil-exporting countries. Furthermore, the robustness of the relationship has recently come to be revaluated since many countries move towards alternative energy resources, thus moving away from its oil dependence.The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between oil shocks and consumption for the small democratic economy of Norway. The choice of selecting an oil-exporting country for this analysis is somewhat unique since many of the world economies are oil-importers and the research made up until now are focusing on these economies. To do this, the study ends up with analyzing the short-run effects of oil shocks on household consumption by using a Vector autoregression model, Granger-causality test and an Impulse response function. The result suggests that there is a granger causality between oil shocks and consumption. Also, for Norway, we find that a shock due to increased crude oil prices has a positive short effect on household consumption.

Denna uppsats undersöker faktorer som skulle kunna förklara de regionala skillnaderna i arbetslösheten mellan Sveriges kommuner under perioden 2008 till 2017. Uppsatsen avser även att undersöka huruvida det finns någon skillnad i relationen mellan arbetslösheten och de förklarande variablerna när individer som deltar i arbetsmarknadsprogram exkluderas ur arbetslöshetsnivån. Inrikes inflyttningsöverskott, andel utrikesfödda, skattenivå och utbildningsnivå är några faktorer vars påverkan på arbetslösheten som kommer undersökas. Uppsatsen behandlar ett datamaterial som omfattar samtliga 290 kommuner under en 10 årsperiod. Genom paneldataanalys tas hänsyn till både tidsspecifika och entitetspecifika egenskaper i datamaterialet. Resultaten visar att det finns stora skillnader i både öppen arbetslöshet och total arbetslöshet mellan Sveriges kommuner under den undersökta perioden. Det finns därtill även stora skillnader mellan olika grupper av kommuner, som visar att det är möjligt att en ekonomisk policy skulle kunna ge större effekt i vissa regioner än i andra. Resultaten visar vidare att effekten av en förändring i de förklarande variablerna påverkar arbetslösheten i samma riktning för både definitionerna.

I investigate if employers sort job applicants based on information about whether the applicants attended a public or an independent upper-secondary school. I perform a stated choice experiment where real employers in Sweden are enrolled and asked to evaluate fictitious job candidates for a current job opening. I find no evidence of such signaling effects for candidates with a typical Swedish name. However, candidates with a Middle Eastern sounding name experience a probability of being invited to an interview that is 14-19 percentage points higher if their resume reveal that they went to an independent, in contrast to a public, school. I show that, under some assumptions, these outcomes can be explained by theories on labor market signaling. There exits very little empirical evidence on the relationship between school choice and sorting in the labor market. Consequently, these findings fills an important gap in our knowledge and brings new perspectives for educational policy.

Inom tillväxtteori finns begreppet konvergens. Konvergens innebär att länder och regioner konvergerar mot gemensamma ekonomiska nivåer. Om konvergens existerar finns ett negativt samband mellan den initiala storleken på landets ekonomi samt dess tillväxttakt. Detta innebär att länder och regioner med till exempel initialt låga BNP-nivåer uppvisar en högre tillväxttakt än redan starka regioner. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det går att urskilja någon form av ekonomisk konvergens mellan Sveriges län åren 1996 – 2016. För att undersöka detta estimeras en regressionsmodell där samtliga län inkluderas. Den beroende variabeln är BRP-tillväxt och den huvudsakliga förklarande variabeln är BRP-nivå. Resultatet uppvisar ett negativt samband mellan BRP-tillväxt och BRP-nivå för den studerade tidsperioden. Detta innebär att det finns belägg för att det mellan åren 1996 och 2016 fanns en ekonomisk konvergens mellan Sveriges 21 olika län. Resultatet ligger i linje med tidigare studier samt den teori som finns på området.

Through the transmission mechanism, key interest rates will have a tangible impact on the economy, encompassed by the aggregate consumption expenditure of households. The purpose of the study is to investigate more closely the mechanisms by which the policy rate will affect households aggregate consumption and the consequences that the policy rate will have on household consumption expenditure. In order to carry out the study, an inductive method is used where the results from previous research in the area concerned have since been compared with the theoretical framework.   The policy rates will, via the various channels of the transmission mechanism, affect the household´s propensity for consumption. An example is the policy rate outcome on market interest rates (via the interest rate channel), which will make an impact on households disposable income through the cashflow channel. Another example is how interest rates through the interest rate channel have an impact on households net worth, a factor that plays a significant role in how households choose to plan their consumption expenditures. Changes in the policy rate will also influence the inflation expectations of households, the exchange rate and the credit channel. Other indirect effects of policy rate changes include the emergence of income- and substitution effects in consumption, its influence on how the existing human capital is priced and the emergence of redistribution effects among lenders and borrowers. The characteristics of households, such as life situation, age segment, debt ratio and median income, will also play a central role in how households choose to dispose of their consumption expenditure. The survey finds that the overall effect of real interest rate changes on household consumption is ambiguous. Regardless of whether the intertemporal substitution effect seems to dominate in practice, the general mood in the economy as well as the personal circumstances of households will play a decisive role in the actual outcomes.

No description available.

In this paper, we present an algorithmic implementation of a pairs trading strategy on the OMXS during the years from 2010 until 2018. In our case, the trading algorithm is based on the Adaptive Market Hypothesis (AMH) theory. Hence, the algorithm scans the market for temporary inefficient behaviour, as defined by AMH. The pairs trading algorithm suggested in the paper revolves around a minimum distance paring method that evaluates different threshold measures. In the paper, we also suggest a new method for the choice of threshold as well as evaluate the efficiency of the strategy by an application on the relatively small Swedish OMXS stock exchange. In this small exchange, other forms of market inefficiency may arise compared with those on a larger international stock exchange. The paper also presents the AMH framework for behaviour in a financial market, a hypothesis that may explain the positive result of the presented application of pairs trading strategy. Hence, this paper connects AMH with the pairs trading strategy. Our result indicates that when we exercise the strategy during a period of trading, in a portfolio consisting of 10 pairs, it generates a positive aggregated return, compared with index, even when we consider a theoretical transaction cost. Furthermore, the strategy outperforms a random naïve trading strategy combined with a low market dependence, measured in correlation. However, even if the strategy is profitable, the return is volatile. This is believed to be an outcome of volatile market reactions to new information in the close chosen substitutes. Such problems with pairing and diversity may be traced back to the small sample of stocks in the example presented in the paper. As such, the algorithm suggested is as a step towards trading based on theoretically motivated algorithmic learning models, in line with trading models developed within the rapidly emerging field of artificial intelligence.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.