We apply Haider and Solon's generalized errors-in-variables model to Swedish income tax data to produce estimates of the association between current and lifetime income. Our estimates demonstrate strong life-cycle patterns. This implies that the widespread use of current income as a proxy for...

Is the Swedish central government a wage leader? This question is studied empirically in a vector error-correction model using a unique, high quality data set. Private sector salaries are found to be weakly exogenous to the system of equations. This means that the private sector is the wage...

This paper calculates the quantitative significance of the welfare effects of wage compression in Sweden. This is done in a dynamic general equilibrium model with overlapping generations where agents choose both schooling (human capital) and assets (physical capital). This paper shows that when...

Sibling correlations are used as overall measures of the impact of family background and community influences on individual outcomes. While most correlation studies show that siblings are quite similar in terms of future achievement, we lack specific knowledge of what it is about family...

The goal of this study is to examine trends in the importance of family background in determining adult income in Sweden. We investigate whether the association between family background and income in Sweden has changed for cohorts born 1932-1968. Our main finding is that the share of the...

The Swedish Economist Assar Lindbeck has recently expressed concern that PhD programs are not educating enough “two-legged†economists. We surveyed all PhD students enrolled at Stockholm University and the Stockholm School of Economics—strong European graduate programs that have...

Income inequality increased in Sweden during the 1980s and 1990s, as did the returns to higher education. The main conclusion of this study is that increased income inequality between high- and low-skilled workers is demand driven and is due to the presence of capital-skill complementarity in...

This paper calculates the quantitative significance of the welfare effects of wage compression in Sweden. This is done in a dynamic general equilibrium model with overlapping generations where agents choose both schooling (human capital) and assets (physical capital). This paper shows that when...

Income inequality increased in Sweden during the 1980’s and 90’s as did the returns to higher education. The main conclusion of this study is that increased income inequality between high and low skilled workers is demand driven and is due to the presence of capital-skill complementarity in...

The purpose of this paper is to study (empirically) the dynamics of child poverty in Sweden, the quintessential welfare state. We find that 1 out of every 5 children is disposable income poor at least once during his or her childhood, while only 2 percent of all children are chronically poor. We...