QUIT BEHAVIOR UNDER IMPERFECT INFORMATION: SEARCHING, MOVING, LEARNING

The paper provides a search ––– theoretic interpretation of a well-known empirical regularity ––– the inverse relationship between quit rates and job tenure. We consider a setting where the employed job searcher has incomplete information about non-wage job attributes at the time acceptance decisions are made; hence jobs will be accepted (or refused) without full knowledge of the value of the offers. The model implies that workers with long tenure will be less likely to quit, holding wage rates constant. We also show that a risk-neutral worker is willing to accept a wage offer that falls below his current "full" wage (in the absence of moving costs).     

The interaction of migration,income, and employment in Sweden

A common approach in migration studies is to explain interregional migration by single-equation models. Such models are likely to suffer from simultaneous-equation bias when used in studies attempting to analyze migration over a long period of time. In this study, a simultaneous-equation approach is applied, which takes account of the interdependence between migration and income and employment changes. The four-equation model is estimated for 70 labor market areas in Sweden.     

Vacancy Referrals,Job Search,and the Duration of Unemployment: A Randomized Experiment

One goal of the Public Employment Service is to facilitate matching between unemployed job‐seekers and job vacancies; another goal is to monitor job search so as to bring search efforts among the unemployed in line with search requirements. The referral of job‐seekers to vacancies is one instrument used for these purposes. We report results from a randomized Swedish experiment where the outcome of referrals is examined. To what extent do unemployed individuals actually apply for the jobs they are referred to? Does information to job‐seekers about increased monitoring affect the probability of applying and the probability of leaving unemployment? The experiment indicates that a relatively large fraction (one‐third) of the referrals do not result in job applications. Information about intensified monitoring causes an increase in the probability of job application, especially among young people. However, we find no significant impact on the duration of unemployment.     

Do Benefit Hikes Damage Job Finding? Evidence from Swedish Unemployment Insurance Reforms

Abstract. In 2001 and 2002, Sweden introduced several unemployment insurance reforms. A major innovation in the first reform was the introduction of a two‐tiered benefit structure for some unemployed individuals. This system involved supplementary compensation during the first 20 weeks of unemployment. The 2002 reform retained the two‐tiered benefit structure but involved also substantial benefit hikes for spells exceeding 20 weeks. This paper examines how these reforms affected transitions from unemployment to employment. We take advantage of the fact that the reforms had quasi‐experimental features where the ‘treatments’ differed considerably among unemployed individuals. We find that the reforms had strikingly different effects on job finding among men and women. The two reforms in conjunction are estimated to have increased the expected duration of unemployment among men but to have decreased the duration of unemployment among women. The overall effect on the duration of unemployment is not statistically different from zero. However, the reforms reduced job finding among men who remained unemployed for more than 20 weeks.     

PROFIT SHARING, WAGE BARGAINING, AND UNEMPLOYMENT

The Paper examines the effects of profit sharing in an economy with decentralized wage bargaining. Profit sharing makes workers' income more sensitive to wage changes, and this leads to wage moderation. But economy-wide profit sharing may also improve worker's outside income opportunities, and this strengthens the union's hand in bargaining and tend to raise wages. It turns out that equilibrium unemployment is reduced by profit sharing as long as the elasticity of substitution between labour and capital is less than one, whereas unemployment is increased if the elasticity of substitution is greater than one.     

Meet the Parents? Family Size and the Geographic Proximity Between Adult Children and Older Mothers in Sweden

The aim of this study is to estimate the causal effect of family size on the proximity between older mothers and adult children by using a large administrative data set from Sweden. Our main results show that adult children in Sweden are not constrained by sibship size in choosing where to live: for families with more than one child, sibship size does not affect child-mother proximity. For aging parents, however, having fewer children reduces the probability of having at least one child living nearby, which is likely to have consequences for the intensity of intergenerational contact and eldercare.     

Wage Linkages Between Private and Public Sectors in Sweden

Abstract. The paper examines wage linkages between private and public sectors in Sweden by means of Granger causality tests and estimation of error correction models. Wage changes in central and local governments are Granger caused by private sector wage changes. Public sector wage increases involve error correction mechanisms; the lower the relative wage in the past, the higher the current wage increases. Increases in unemployment are associated with relative wage improvements for public sector employees.