This thesis consists of an introductory part and the following four self-contained papers: In Paper [I] we analyze the implications of social identity and self-categorization for optimal redistributive income taxation. A two-type model is supplemented by an assumption that individuals select themselves into social categories, in which norms are formed and education effort choices partly depend on these norms. The results show, among other things, that externality correction by a welfarist government leads to an element of tax progression that serves to reduce the discrepancy between the effort norm and the actual effort chosen by low-productivity individuals in the high-effort group. Furthermore, if the preference for social identity is sufficiently strong, increased wage-inequality leads to higher social welfare through a relaxation of the selection constraint. It may thus be desirable to use publicly provided education to induce more wage-inequality, even if higher wage-inequality increases the intrinsic utility of a potential mimicker. In Paper [II] I employ high quality register data to present new facts about income mobility in Sweden. The focus of the paper is regional differences in mobility, using a novel approach based on a multilevel model. This method is well-suited when regions differ greatly in population size as is the case in Sweden. The maximum likelihood estimates are substantially more precise than those obtained by running separate OLS regressions. I find small regional differences in income mobility when measured in relative terms. Regional differences are large when adopting an absolute measure and focusing on children with below-median parent income. On the national level I find that the association between parent and child income ranks has decreased over time, implying increased mobility. In Paper [III] I study the long term effects of inter-municipal moving during childhood on income using Swedish register data. Due to the richness of the data I am able to control for important sources of selection into moving, such as parent separation, parents' unemployment, education, long run income, and immigration background. I find that children's long run incomes are significantly negatively affected by moving during childhood, and the effect is larger for those who move more often. For children who move once, I also estimate the effect of the timing and the quality of the move. I measure the quality of each neighborhood based on the adult outcomes for individuals who never move. The quality of a move is defined as the difference in quality between the origin and the destination. Given that a family moves, I find that the negative effect of childhood moving on adult income is increasing in age at move. Children benefit economically from the quality of the region they move to only if they move before age 12 (sons) and age 16 (daughters). In Paper [IV] I study the bias of IGE estimates for different missing-data scenarios based on simulated income processes. Using an income process from the income dynamics and risks literature to generate two linked generations’ complete income histories, I use Monte Carlo methods to study the relationship between available data patterns and the bias of the IGE. I find that the traditional approach using the average of the typically available log income observations leads to IGE estimates that are around 40 percent too small. Moreover, I show that the attenuation bias is not reduced by averaging over many father income observations. Using just one income observation for each generation at the optimal age (as discussed in the paper) or using weighted instead of unweighted averages can reduce the bias. In addition, the rank-rank slope is found to be clearly less sensitive to missing data.

Det finns många indikationer på att Sveriges bostadsmarknad fungerar dåligt och statistik från Boverket visar att många kommuner upplever ett bostadsunderskott. Samtidigt indikerar statistik från Statistiska centralbyrån att stora delar av Sveriges befintliga bostadsbestånd används ineffektivt. Bostadspriserna har de senaste decennierna ökat kraftigt och i kombination med att många hushåll bor länge i sina bostäder har stora latenta skatteskulder byggts upp runt om i Sveriges kommuner. En bidragande faktor som påverkar ett hushålls vilja att flytta är storleken på transaktionskostnaderna som uppkommer i samband med en fastighetsförsäljning. En stor del av dessa transaktionskostnader utgörs av kapitalvinstskatten som måste betalas när bostaden säljs med vinst. Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för den svenska bostadsmarknaden genom att kartlägga latent skatteskuld, flyttkostnader i procent av priset och bostadsrörligheten i Sveriges kommuner. Studien undersöker även om det finns ett samband mellan höga flyttkostnader och låg bostadsrörlighet. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en kvantitativ metod där data från Statistiska centralbyrån, Skatteverket och Valueguard använts för att skapa en databas över Sveriges kommuner. Studiens resultat visar att de högsta latenta skatteskulderna återfinns i storstäderna Stockholm, Göteborg och Malmö medan kommunerna med högst flyttkostnad i procent av priset för småhusbeståndet är Habo, Åre och Härjedalen. Kommunerna Orsa, Grästorp och Mullsjö har de högsta flyttkostnaderna i procent av priset vad gäller bostadsrättsbeståndet. Störst andel underutnyttjat småhusbestånd finns i kommunerna Malung-Sälen, Härjedalen och Åre där nästan vartannat småhus står tomt medan kommunerna med störst andel underutnyttjat bostadsrättsbestånd är Nordanstig, Berg och Åre. Studien kan inte bevisa att det finns ett positivt samband mellan höga flyttkostnader och låg rörlighet på bostadsmarknaden. / There are many indications that the Swedish housing market is functioning inefficiently, and statistics from the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning show that many municipalities are experiencing a housing deficit. Simultaneously, statistics from Statistics Sweden indicate that large parts of Sweden's existing housing stock are underutilized. Seeing as housing prices have steadily increased during the last decades, combined with the fact that many households live in their houses for many years, a large dormant tax debt has been built up in the Swedish municipalities. One factor affecting the household’s willingness to move is the size of the transaction costs generated by the sale of the property. A large part of the transaction costs includes the capital gains tax if the residence is sold at a profit.  The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge of the Swedish housing market by mapping the dormant tax debt, moving costs as a percentage of the price and residential mobility in the Swedish municipalities. The study thus examines whether there is a relationship between high moving costs and low residential mobility. The study applies a quantitative approach where data from Statistics Sweden, The Swedish Tax Agency and Valueguard are used to create a dataset of the Swedish municipalities. The results of the study show that the highest dormant tax debt is found in the major cities Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö, while the municipalities with the highest moving costs as a percentage of the price of the single-family houses are found in Habo, Åre and Härjedalen. The municipalities of Orsa, Grästorp and Mullsjö show the highest moving costs as a percentage of the price for the condominium housing stock. The largest proportion of underutilized single-family houses is found in the municipalities Malung-Sälen, Härjedalen and Åre, where half of the single-family houses were empty, while the municipalities with the most underutilized condominium housing stock are Nordanstig, Berg and Åre. The study could however not show that there is a positive relationship between high moving costs and low mobility in the housing market.