Are mothers of young children more likely to be self-employed? The case of Sweden

Previous studies, mostly from Anglo-Saxon countries, find a positive correlation between the presence of young children in the household and self-employment probabilities among women. This has been seen as an indication of women with young children choosing self-employment as a way of balancing work and family commitments. This paper studies the relationship between children and female self-employment in a country with family friendly policies and a generous welfare system: Sweden. The initial hypothesis is that we will not find evidence of a positive effect of children on self-employment among Swedish women since there are other institutions in place aiming at facilitating the combination of work and family. Using Swedish register data for the period 2004–2008 we do, however, find that the presence of young children increases the probability of choosing self-employment also among Swedish women. The effect is strongest for women with very young children, 0–3 years of age. These results also hold in a panel data model that takes individual unobserved heterogeneity into account. We also analyze time-use data and find, contrary to what has been found in many other countries, that self-employed women spend more, or as much, time on market work than wage-earning women. This raises doubts about whether women in Sweden chose self-employment as a way of balancing work and family commitments.     

Well-Being in an Adult Swedish Population

Objectives: The aim of this study was to see if earlier findings about factors associated with well-being could be replicated in a large population-based sample in Sweden. To the best of our knowledge, no research on well-being has been conducted on such a large population in a country, which by most standards is regarded as one of the most fortunate in the world. With its economic wealth and highly developed social welfare and health care system, Sweden is a country where the conditions for a high level of well-being would appear to be met. Methods: 10,441 randomly selected Swedish citizens, aged between 20 and 64 years, living in Stockholm County, completed a questionnaire covering issues such as demographics, social network and psychological well-being. The data were collected during the years 1998–2000. Results: Male gender, greater age, cohabiting, good childhood conditions, support from friends, sound financial situation and absence of negative life events were positively associated with well-being and explained 20% of the variance. Conclusion: The findings replicated earlier studies. Factors associated with well-being seem to remain the same, and are still explaining only a small part of the total variance, despite different measurements, time, sample sizes or country of origin. Therefore, research on well-being needs to take a new turn, by placing less focus on external factors and more focus on the internal factors, such as a person’s personality and coping strategies.     

Child protection under Swedish law—legal duality and uncertainty

Society's responsibility to protect children from harm as prescribed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child raises complex questions about the fundamental rights of both children and parents, as well as when and how authorities are to intervene in order to protect children from maltreatment. Many child protection systems around the world attract considerable criticism, due in part to how the law responds to child protection matters. This article examines the Swedish child protection system from a critical legal perspective with the ideas conveyed within Therapeutic Jurisprudence as a theoretical starting point. The aim is to describe and analyze the legal challenges and dilemmas that meet this system. A legal ambiguity about when and how responsible authorities are to intervene, leading to significant uncertainty for both children and parents, is identified. Furthermore, the strong focus by Swedish authorities on voluntary measures to resolve child protection matters can lead to vulnerable children not receiving the protection to which they are entitled. Certain of the challenges and dilemmas described here are specific to the Swedish system due to its legal context and family support approach. However, other aspects resonate across legal systems and, therefore, may be of a more general interest.     

The Native‐Immigrant Income Gap among the Self‐Employed in Sweden

During recent years we have observed that non‐western immigrants are overrepresented among the self‐employed in Sweden. A reason for this might be the difficulties faced by immigrants in the labour market. The unemployment rate among non‐western immigrants in Sweden is higher than among natives with similar human capital characteristics. While this is a well‐established result, we do not know much about how self‐employed immigrants perform economically compared to their native counterparts. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the incomes of self‐employed immigrants and natives in Sweden. We will also discuss possible explanations for the income gap we find. We use Swedish register data for the period 1998 to 2002 and the population studied consists of individuals who have been continuously self‐employed during this period. By performing the analysis on this group of self‐employed we get a measure of the difference among the long‐term self‐employed. The outcome of interest is the average income over the period. Income regressions are estimated using both OLS and quantile regressions. We find that self‐employed immigrants receive significantly lower incomes than their native counterparts when controlling for individual characteristics, industry and start‐up year of the firm. The income gap is larger for non‐western immigrants than for western immigrants. Quantile regressions show that the native‐immigrant income gap is smaller at the top than at the bottom of the income distribution. Several possible explanations for the native‐immigrant income gap are discussed. One possible explanation is that immigrants have a lower reservation wage and accepts staying in business receiving a lower income than comparable natives. Another explanation might be that there is discrimination against self‐employed immigrants that will lead to lower incomes. There can be consumer discrimination or discrimination from banks and real estate owners.     

Exposure assessment in different occupational groups at a hospital using Quick Exposure Check (QEC) - a pilot study

In order to test the feasibility and sensitivity of the ergonomic exposure assessment tool Quick Exposure Check (QEC), a pilot-study was conducted. The aim was to test QEC in different occupational groups to compare the exposure in the most common work task with the exposure in the work task perceived as the most strenuous for the neck/shoulder region, and to test intra-observer reliability. One experienced ergonomist observed 23 workers. The mean observation time was 45 minutes, waiting time and time for complementary questions included. The exposure scores varied between the different occupational groups as well as between workers within the occupational groups. Eighteen workers rated their most common work task as also being the most strenuous for the neck/shoulder region. For the remaining five workers, the mean exposure score were higher both for the neck and shoulder/arm in the most common work task. Intra-observer reliability shows agreement in 86% of the exposure interactions in the neck and in 71% in the shoulder/arm. QEC seems to fulfill the expectations of being a quick, sensible and practical exposure assessment tool that covers physical risk factors in the neck, upper extremities and low back.     

Exits from Self-Employment: Is There a Native-Immigrant Difference in Sweden?1

It is well established that non-western immigrants in Sweden are more likely to be self-employed than natives. Whether there is also a difference in the exit rate out of self-employment remains an unexplored question. Using panel data for the period 1998–2002, this study analyzes the exit rates by looking at all exits, and also at exits to different labor market states. We find that the exit rate is about 7% points higher among non-western immigrants than among natives and exits to unemployment is 14% points higher. Decomposing these differences, we find that differences in industry and earlier labor market status are important explanatory factors.     

What explains variation in voluntary disclosure? A study of the annual reports of corporations listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange

The demand for information and transparency from listed corporations has recently increased. In spite of an increased demand for mandatory disclosures from regulators, corporations choose to voluntarily disclose additional information in order to satisfy demands from the capital market. However, the extent and content of information in those voluntary disclosures vary across corporations. The aim of this study is to explain the variation in the content of information in voluntary disclosures by listed corporations. The analyses are based on data collected from 431 annual reports from corporations listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the years 2002 and 2005. The findings support explanations from agency theory and positive accounting theory that size and the debt ratio are positively correlated with the content of information in voluntary disclosures. Corporations with a high share of management ownership disclosed less information than corporations with a low share of management ownership. The study also shows that variations in voluntary disclosures can be explained by factors derived from institutional theory and ‘international capital market pressures’. The results indicate that foreign ownership and international listing to some extent have a positive effect on the content of information in voluntary disclosures. Industry was another factor that had a significant influence on voluntary disclosures. One important finding is that regulation to some extent can stimulate voluntary disclosures; our results did not indicate an ‘unintended chilling effect’ due to too much regulation. In general, the corporations disclosed more voluntary information after the introduction of IFRS.     

Reluctant participation – the experiences of adolescents with disabilities of meetings with social workers regarding their right to receive personal assistance

The aim of this study was to improve understanding of the experiences of adolescents with disabilities concerning meetings that affect their possibility to receive personal assistance in Sweden. Qualitative inductive content analysis was used to describe their experiences. Overall adolescents were found to be reluctant to participate in meetings. Two main approaches could be discerned – taking part and taking part by proxy. The adolescents who took part in meetings tried to adapt their self-presentation to fit with the social workers’ requirements by presenting their worst self, giving requested information, using support and raising their voices. The adolescents who choose to participate by proxy were either being involved or not being involved. Being involved implied involvement before and/or after the meeting. The meaning of participants’ strategies was examined through a social constructivist lens. The results indicate that ‘performing disability’ during the meetings is a prerequisite for obtaining personal assistance. In its current form adolescents’ participation is reduced to tokenism and this raises questions about how to implement a child perspective.     

Explaining the influence of time budget pressure on audit quality in Sweden

This paper is aimed at explaining how time budget pressure influences audit quality in the Swedish context. A hypothesis is deduced and tested through a survey sent to Swedish auditors. The Swedish context provides a special setting since audit firms and auditors have been facing new pressures due, for example, to the removal of statutory audits for a majority of the companies in Sweden. The findings show that time budget pressure lowers the quality of audits performed by Swedish auditors, but it is not the only explanation. Audit quality is also related to other factors such as gender, position, experience, number of clients, local office size and audit firm. Thus, the model is useful for explaining the factors influencing audit quality and could be used and expanded in future studies. The study also has practical implications showing that when trading-off between audit efforts and available resources and setting time budgets for each audit assignment, audit firms should also consider the personal characteristics of the auditors.     

Grants to Needy Countries? A Study of Aid Composition between 1975 and 2005

This article discusses whether the poorest and most indebted countries receive aid in the form of grants rather than loans, by studying bilateral aid flows to low‐ and middle‐income countries between 1975 and 2005. The empirical analysis finds no evidence that more indebted countries receive a higher grant component, but it does show that poorer countries receive a significantly higher grant component, although the size of the effect is quite limited.