This thesis contributes to two completely unrelated debates in the economic literature, similar only in the relatively high degree of controversy characterizing each one. The first part is methodological and macroeconomic in nature, addressing the question of whether the distribution of income across countries is converging (i.e. are the poor catching up to the rich?) or diverging (i.e. are we witnessing the formation of two exclusive clubs, one for poor countries and another one for rich countries?). Applications of the simple Markov model to this question have generated evidence in favor of the divergence hypothesis. In the first chapter, I critically review these results. I use statistical inference to show that the divergence results are not statistically robust, and I explain that this instability of the results comes from the application of a model for discrete data to data that is actually continuous. In the second chapter, I reposition the whole convergence-divergence debate by placing it in the context of Silverman’s classic survey of non-parametric density estimation techniques. This allows me to use the basic notions of fuzzy logic to adapt the simple Markov chain model to continuous data. When I apply the newly adapted Markov chain model to the cross-country distribution question, I find evidence against the divergence hypothesis, and this evidence is statistically robust. The second part of the thesis is empirical and microeconomic in nature. I question whether observed differences between husbands’ and wives’ participation in labor markets are due to different preferences or to different constraints. My identification strategy is based on the idea that the more power an individual has relative to his/her partner, the more his/her actions will reflect his/her preferences. I use 2001 PSID data on cohabiting couples to estimate a simultaneous equations model of the spousal time allocation decision. My results confirm the stylized fact that specialization and trade does not explain time allocation for couples in which the wife is the primary breadwinner, and suggest that power could provide a more general explanation of the observations. My results show that wives with relatively more power choose to work more on the labor market and less at home, whereas husbands with more power choose to do the opposite. Since women start out from a lower level of labor market participation than men do, it would seem that spouses’ agree that the ideal mix of market work and housework lies somewhere between the husbands’ and the wives’ current positions.

本研究的最主要目的在瞭解電子佈告欄使用者的媒介行為及時間分配的關 聯性。資料分析的結果，在人口特質方面，有如下的發現：電子佈告欄的 受訪者絕大多數是三十歲以下、未婚、大專程度的男性；符合一般新傳播 科技使用者的特徵。職業以學生佔大多數，個人收入在一萬元以下。這二 點發現與過去的研究大異其趣。可能與電子佈告欄「物美價廉」的特性有 關，這也是電子佈告欄和一般新傳播科技昂貴價格的相異處。使用電子佈 告欄的時間並沒有因為性別的差異而有顯著不同。人口特質中的年齡和使 用電子佈告欄的時間有顯著差異；年齡和使用電子佈告欄的時間呈負相關 ，年齡愈小，每天使用電子佈告欄的時間愈長。未婚者使用電子佈告欄的 時間雖然較已婚者長，但兩者未達顯著差異。同樣的情形發生在電子佈告 欄受訪者的教育程度上，不同的教育程度花費在電子佈告欄的時間並無顯 著差異。學生花費在電子佈告欄的時間與從事其他職業者有顯著差異。收 入和使用電子佈告欄的時間呈顯著負相關，收入愈少，使用電子佈告欄的 時間愈長。此外，花費在電子佈告欄這項行為的時間愈長，其閱報時間、 睡眠時間、從事其他活動的時間愈短，印證經濟學時間預算的觀點：時間 是項有限的資源，一項新行為的加入，必然會減少其他活動的使用時間。 而本研究發現，被減少的時間，並非完全是傳統媒介的使用時間，而是睡 眠時間及其他活動時間。

<p>This thesis consists of three papers on the economics and structure of Swedish families.</p><p>Paper [I] examines the determinants of children’s educational achievement in Sweden. Special attention is given to the labour market work by mothers and fa-thers in terms of its influence on the educational outcome of their children, measured as grade point average (GPA) in compulsory as well as upper secon-dary school. The results show that there is a positive relationship between paren-tal income and GPA. Regarding the number of hours worked in the labour mar-ket, the results differ between mothers and fathers. Having a mother that works less than full time has positive effects on the child’s grades throughout the schooling of the child, whereas significant effects of the hours of work that the father puts in are found during upper secondary school only.</p><p>Paper [II] explores the role of financial surprises and match quality in the disso-lution of relationships. The analysis is carried out both for surprises in the short term earnings and surprises in the long-run earnings capacity. It is found that positive surprises in short term earnings have a destabilizing effect for a rela-tionship. Generally, a negative surprise in long-run earnings capacity for males has a destabilizing effect. However, if it is combined with a female positive sur-prise, the effect is stabilizing. Commitments become more stable the older the spouses are at the start, and if young children are present.</p><p>Paper [III] studies the role of unemployment in the dissolution of relationships by applying a two-step estimation method to an extensive data set, which con-tains information about young Swedish males and females. Unemployment is recognized as endogenous in the separation decision, and the results show that the effect of unemployment on separation is biased when unemployment is as-sumed to be exogenous in the separation equation. The probability of separation is found to be increasing with male unemployment, while female unemployment decreases the probability of dissolution.</p>

This thesis consists of three papers on the economics and structure of Swedish families. Paper [I] examines the determinants of children’s educational achievement in Sweden. Special attention is given to the labour market work by mothers and fa-thers in terms of its influence on the educational outcome of their children, measured as grade point average (GPA) in compulsory as well as upper secon-dary school. The results show that there is a positive relationship between paren-tal income and GPA. Regarding the number of hours worked in the labour mar-ket, the results differ between mothers and fathers. Having a mother that works less than full time has positive effects on the child’s grades throughout the schooling of the child, whereas significant effects of the hours of work that the father puts in are found during upper secondary school only. Paper [II] explores the role of financial surprises and match quality in the disso-lution of relationships. The analysis is carried out both for surprises in the short term earnings and surprises in the long-run earnings capacity. It is found that positive surprises in short term earnings have a destabilizing effect for a rela-tionship. Generally, a negative surprise in long-run earnings capacity for males has a destabilizing effect. However, if it is combined with a female positive sur-prise, the effect is stabilizing. Commitments become more stable the older the spouses are at the start, and if young children are present. Paper [III] studies the role of unemployment in the dissolution of relationships by applying a two-step estimation method to an extensive data set, which con-tains information about young Swedish males and females. Unemployment is recognized as endogenous in the separation decision, and the results show that the effect of unemployment on separation is biased when unemployment is as-sumed to be exogenous in the separation equation. The probability of separation is found to be increasing with male unemployment, while female unemployment decreases the probability of dissolution.

The Swedish education system has undergone decentralisation and deregulation since the late 1970s. The 1999 parliamentary resolution for a 5-year experiment of increased school autonomy in time allocation, was a late step in this development. Approximately 900 compulsory schools in 79 municipalities no longer had to adhere to the regulation of the national time schedule. The overall aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse changes of time allocation and time use in schools during the experiment. The analysis has the theories and research by Basil Bernstein and Michael Fullan as the point of departure. Framing and classification, educational change and teachers’ work culture are some of the key concepts. The results from interviews with 32 local directors formed the basis of selection of three participating municipalities and schools in the longitudinal study. The sample included both municipalities participating and some not participating in the experiment. The schools had varying motives for participating, and different initial time allocation strategies and procedures. However, they all shared an ambition to strengthen curriculum and school development. Pupils, teachers and head teachers from three classes and teacher teams in the three schools were interviewed and observed over a period of two years. Documents on time use and policies from the three schools were analysed. No dramatic changes were observed. Changes rarely meant a redistribution of time between contents/subjects or pupils. Instead they were predominantly about weakened boundaries between subjects and teachers, increased teacher control over the work and giving pupils more influence over their own learning situation. So called open lessons, when pupils were allowed to choose what, where and how to study, cross-disciplinary studies and subject-integrated teamwork facilitated this. A majority of pupils and teachers appreciated the increased freedom and control over their work. Some teachers, however, tended to be more hesitant, pointing to risks of work overload and lowered academic achievement. Both teachers and pupils doubted that all pupils could manage highly autonomous studies, and agreed that some needed more structure and help from the teachers. Teachers in practical and aesthetic subjects were often constrained from engaging in cross-disciplinary studies and teamwork. Having one’s teaching assignment divided between many different classes and even schools, and lack of premises were commonly mentioned obstacles. Committed head teachers and well-functioning teacher teams were significant factors were commonly in the observed development process. Also, active support from the municipality and network-participation were contributing factors. Attention is drawn to the fact that it is not possible to relate the observed changes exclusively to the time schedule experiment. They were feasible within the existing, flexible frames of the national time schedule. Furthermore, a number of other changes occurred parallel to the experiment.

Risken för att drabbas av stressrelaterade sjukdomar är hög bland sjukvårdspersonal bland annat då kraven på kvalitet, effektivitet och arbetstempo har ökat. I diskussionen kring sjuksköterskors arbetssituation är saknas det aktuell kunskap om hur sjuksköterskor inom den neonatala intensivvården fördelar sin tid under arbetsdagen och vilka arbetsmoment som sjuksköterskorna utför i sitt dagliga arbete. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilka arbetsmoment en sjuksköterska på neonatalintensiven utför under ett arbetspass samt kartlägga hur tidsåtgången fördelade sig mellan dessa arbetsmoment. En strukturerad tidsstudie genomfördes därför på en neonatal intensivvårdsavdelning i Sverige. Resultatet visade hur sjuksköterskorna fördelar sin tid mellan 69 olika arbetsmoment i 23 kategorier inom åtta kompetensområden samt hur omvårdnadsarbetet fördelade sig tidsmässigt mellan den direkt patientnära kontakten och övriga patientrelaterade uppgifter. 54 procent av den totalt arbetade tiden ägnades åt indirekt omvårdnad som förberedande arbete, hantering av material och samverkan i vårdkedjan medan 35 procent ägnas åt patientnära omvårdnad. Sjuksköterskearbetet är uppdelat mellan många olika arbetsmoment och arbetsområden, det är hög tid att se över sjuksköterskerollen och de uppgifter hon tilldelas som leder iväg från patientsängen. / The risk for acquire stress related diseases is high in medical staff since the demand on quality, efficiency and work pace has increased. There is not much recent knowledge about how nurses in neonatal intensive care spend their time and which work tasks the nurses perform in their everyday work. The aim of this study was to examine which work tasks a nurse in neonatal intensive care perform during their workday and present a survey to how the time divides between these different tasks. A structured time study was performed at a neonatal intensive care unit in Sweden. The result show how the nurses divide their time between 69 different work tasks divided in to 23 categories in eight areas of competence and how the nursing work divide in terms of time between direct patient care and other patient related tasks. Nurses spend 54 percent of the total worked time to indirect care like preparations for nursing tasks, material and cooperation with external caregivers while 35 percent where spent at direct bedside care. The nurses time is divided between many different tasks and areas of expertise, it is necessary to evaluate the nursing profession and the tasks that leads them away from the patients bed.

This study represents the behavioural component of a larger project investigating the life history tactics, physiological resource allocation and behavioural time budgeting of a genetically engineered animal. The "supermouse" is a transgenic strain (mMT-1/rGH) that has one chromosome genetically engineered with extra copies of rat growth hormone genes, each fused to a metallothionein-1 promoter. The GH transgenes are permanently incorporated into the genome of the mouse and are inherited as a block, in a Mendelian manner. "Supermice" exhibit an accelerated growth rate and reach body weights twice that of their normal siblings: both transgenic mice and normal mice are obtained by crossing transgenic males to normal females. Although there must be increased costs associated with achieving their higher growth rate, these: mice show no increases in their specific feeding rates. Consequently there must be a reallocation of resources among various physiological and behavioural demands. The reality of such tradeoffs is known as the Principle of Allocation and predicts that reductions in behavioural activities might be one avenue for realizing extra growth. To test this, six components of the behavioural time budget (resting, locomotion, wheel running, feeding, drinking and grooming) were compared between transgenic and normal mice. Infra-red videocameras recorded the activities of individual male mice in artificial enclosures over 24 hours. The time spent in each bout of activity was recorded and compared. Transgenic mice out-slept their normal counterparts by 126% (an increase of 3.4 h) and were only 53.83% as active in terms of locomotion and wheel running as normal mice. Pooling the data revealed that on average, large mice spent more time at rest and less time engaged in locomotion. Slight but significant decreases in time spent drinking and grooming were also found. Transgenic mice spent only 77.01% as much time drinking, and 69.01% as much time grooming as normal mice. No difference in the amount of time spent feeding was found. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

This paper analyzes how remittance receipts affect labor force participation and daily time allocation of individuals residing in remittance-receiving households of rural Pakistan. In particular, I use the first Time-Use Survey of Pakistan (2007) to assess how members of remittance-receiving households distribute time over market production and its complements, namely, home production, leisure consumption and educational investment. I employ the statistical technique of propensity score matching to find a comparison group for individuals residing in remittance-receiving households. My results indicate that impact of remittances on daily activity sets cannot be analogously identified across genders. Men residing in remittance-receiving households devote less time to market production and consume more leisure. Women, on the other hand, invest more time in home production while maintaining the same level of market production.

In an effort to better understand primate behavioural flexibility and responses to low-biomass habitats, behavioural patterns of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) living in a xerophytic spiny forest habitat in southern Madagascar were examined. Behavioural data were collected over two months on two separate groups living in two distinctly different habitats: a sub-desert spiny forest and a riverine gallery forest. Data on the following behavioural categories integral to primate sociality were collected: time allocation, anti-predator vigilance, predator sensitive foraging, feeding competition, and affiliative behaviour. L. catta living in the spiny forest habitat differed significantly in many behavioural patterns when compared to L. catta living in the gallery forest. I suggest that the ability to successfully alter behavioural strategies to varying ecological conditions allows ring-tailed lemurs to occupy low biomass habitats which are uninhabitable to nearly all other primate species in Madagascar. Lemur catta evolution, behavioural flexibility, and conservation will be discussed.

In an effort to better understand primate behavioural flexibility and responses to low-biomass habitats, behavioural patterns of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) living in a xerophytic spiny forest habitat in southern Madagascar were examined. Behavioural data were collected over two months on two separate groups living in two distinctly different habitats: a sub-desert spiny forest and a riverine gallery forest. Data on the following behavioural categories integral to primate sociality were collected: time allocation, anti-predator vigilance, predator sensitive foraging, feeding competition, and affiliative behaviour. L. catta living in the spiny forest habitat differed significantly in many behavioural patterns when compared to L. catta living in the gallery forest. I suggest that the ability to successfully alter behavioural strategies to varying ecological conditions allows ring-tailed lemurs to occupy low biomass habitats which are uninhabitable to nearly all other primate species in Madagascar. Lemur catta evolution, behavioural flexibility, and conservation will be discussed.