A much higher old-age dependency ratio together with more generous pension benefits will lead to a substantial increase in the future pension burden in Norway. The challenges of financing the increasing pension expenditures depend on the development in demographic characteristics like fertility,...

The Norwegian pension reform of 2006 intends to (1) improve long run fiscal sustainability by reducing the growth in public old-age expenditures, (2) strengthen labour supply incentives, and (3) maintain the main redistributive features of the present system. We assess to what extent the reform...

The main goal of the Norwegian pension reform of 2011 is to improve long run fiscal sustainability, not least through stronger labour supply incentives. We assess to what extent the reform is likely to live up to these intentions. To this end we combine a dynamic microsimulation model, which...

A large literature claims that female labor force participation (FLFP) follows a U-shaped trend over the course of economic development. This feminization U hypothesis is motivated by secular patterns of structural change in combination with education and fertility dynamics. We show that...

In this paper, we revisit the inequality-growth relationship using an enhanced panel data set with improved inequality data and special attention to the role of transition countries. We base our analysis on the specification of Forbes (2000), but also address the functional form concerns raised...

Martin Ravallion ("Why Don't We See Poverty Convergence?" American Economic Review, 102(1): 504-23; 2012) presents evidence against the existence of proportionate convergence in global poverty rates despite convergence in household mean income levels and the link between income growth and poverty...

We study Switzerland's 1990s growth weakness through the lens of the business cycle accounting framework by Chari, Kehoe, and McGrattan (2007). Our main result is that weak productivity growth cannot account for the experienced stagnation. Rather, the stagnation is explained by factors that made...

This paper uses neoclassical theory as a foundation for modelling labour demand in Norwegian manufacturing. Applying the Johansen (1988,1991) methodology, we obtain a single cointegrating vector between employment, production, relative factor prices, total factor productivity and the stock of...

The aim of this paper is to gain more insight on the drivers behind geographical variations in family sizes by pointing out the role of neighborhoods and neighbors for two-child couples' transitions to third births. Couples' decisions about fertility behavior are influenced by their social...

We present a probabilistic forecast for the immigrant population of Norway and their Norwegian-born children ("second generation") broken down by age, sex, and three types of country background: 1. West European countries plus the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; 2. East...