Björn Öckert

The Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy | IFAU · IFAU

We examine how workers adjust in response to an unexpected job loss. Using the closure of military bases in Sweden, we find that displaced workers experience permanent income losses and immediately adjust along two main channels: regional and sector mobility. Displaced military workers are more likely to move to another municipality, start commutin...

This paper analyses the effects of maternal age at birth on children's short and long-term outcomes using Finnish register data. We exploit a school starting age rule for identification. Mothers who are born after the school entry cut-off give birth at higher age, but total fertility and earnings are unaffected. Being born after the cut-off reduces...

This paper uses administrative data from Sweden to document trends in the labor market returns to skills. Between 1992 and 2013, the economic return to noncognitive skill—a psychologist-assessed measure of teamwork and leadership skill—roughly doubled. The return to cognitive skill was relatively stable and decreased modestly during the 2000s, howe...

Based on previous research, available statistics and current information on the COVID-19 pandemic, this report analyses and discusses possible consequences of the ongoing pandemic for Swedish children and youth, in the short and longer term. The pandemic is discussed in five chapters focusing on (1) the impact on childhood environment and human cap...

We study the effect of birth order on personality using Swedish population data. Earlier-born men are more emotionally stable, persistent, socially outgoing, willing to assume responsibility, and able to take initiative than later borns. Firstborn children aremore likely to bemanagers and to be in occupations requiring leadership ability, social ab...

We study the intergenerational transmission of cognitive and noncognitive abilities using population data and correct for measurement error in abilities using two sets of instruments. The results show that previous estimates are biased downward and that once measurement error is corrected for, the correlation in noncognitive ability is close to tha...

We study differential parental responses to variation in class size induced by a maximum class size rule in Swedish schools. In response to an increase in class size: (1) only high-income parents help their children more with homework; (2) all parents are more likely to move their child to another school; and (3) only low-income children find their...

Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is...

In Sweden, children typically start school the year they turn seven. We combine this school entry cut-off with individuals' birthdates to estimate effects of school starting age (SSA) on educational attainment and long-run labour market outcomes. We find that school entry age raises educational attainment and show that postponing tracking until age...

In many countries welfare services that traditionally have been provided by the public sector are being contracted out to private providers. But are private contractors better at providing these services? We use a randomized experiment to empirically assess the effectiveness of contracting out employment services to private placement agencies. Our...

This paper evaluates the long-term effects of class size in primary school. We use rich administrative data from Sweden and exploit variation in class size created by a maximum class size rule. Smaller classes in the last three years of primary school (age 10 to 13) are not only beneficial for cognitive test scores at age 13 but also for non-cognit...

This paper exploits discontinuities and randomness in the college admissions in Sweden in 1982, to estimate the economic return to college in the 1990s. At the time, college admissions were highly selective and applicants were ranked with respect to their formal merits. Admissions were given to those ranked higher than some threshold value. At the...

We study the intergenerational transmission of cognitive and non-cognitive abilities between parents and sons, using population-wide enlistment data. Conscripts are evaluated at the same age and with comparable methods across cohorts, and we correct for measurement error bias in fathers’ ability measures by using their brothers’ abilities as instru...

Using a Difference-in-Differences approach, we evaluate the effects of a 10 percentage point reduction in the payroll tax introduced in 2002 in northern Sweden. We find no employment effects among firms existing both before and after the reform, whereas the average wage bill per employee increases by about 0.25% per percentage point reduction in th...

In many countries welfare services that traditionally have been provided by the public sector are increasingly being contracted out to private providers. But are private contractors better at providing these services? We use a randomized experiment to empirically assess the effectiveness of contacting out employment services to private placement ag...

Exploiting exogenous variation in childcare prices stemming from a childcare price reform, this paper estimates effects of reductions in childcare costs on female labour supply. The reform introduced a cap on childcare prices, and lead to considerable reductions in prices depending on family type and region of residence. Since the price is determin...

A policy change is used to estimate the effect of teacher density on student performance. We find that an increase in teacher density has a positive effect on student achievement. The baseline estimate-obtained by using the grade-point average as the outcome variable-implies that resource increases corresponding to the class-size reduction in the S...

A policy change is used to estimate the effect of teacher density on student performance. We find that an increase in teacher density has a positive effect on student achievement. The baseline estimateobtained by using the grade-point average as the outcome variableimplies that resource increases corresponding to the class-size reduction in the STA...

The return to teacher education has fallen rather substantially since the late 1960s. In addition, the teacher wage distribution is extremely compressed. The return to experience is remarkably low (around 1 percent per annum) and the return to other skills (e.g. verbal and inductive ability) – which are rewarded in other professions – is non-existe...

This paper exploits exogenous variation in the price of child care stemming from a major child care price reform, to estimate the effects of child care costs on parents’ labour supply. The reform introduced a cap on the price that local governments could charge parents, and lead to considerable reductions in the price of child care depending on fam...

In Sweden, children typically start compulsary school the year they turn seven. Individuals born just before or just after the new year, have about the same date of birth but start school att different ages. We exploit this source of exogenous variation, to identify the effects of age at school entry on school and labor market outcomes. Using data...

Without Abstract

In most countries the number of places at the universities is restricted. This paper estimates the effect of university enrollment constraints in 1982 on years of education and earnings in Sweden 1981-96. The effect on educational attainment is related to labor market performance, to estimate the effect of education on earnings. The variation used...

RAPPORT 2012:5 Institutet för arbetsmarknads-och utbildningspolitisk utvärdering (IFAU) är ett forskningsinstitut under Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet med säte i Uppsala. IFAU ska främja, stödja och genomföra vetenskapliga utvärderingar. Uppdra-get omfattar: effekter av arbetsmarknads-och utbildningspolitik, arbetsmark-nadens funktionssätt och arbetsm...

RAPPORT 2010:21 Institutet för arbetsmarknadspolitisk utvärdering (IFAU) är ett forskningsinsti-tut under Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet med säte i Uppsala. IFAU ska främja, stödja och genomföra vetenskapliga utvärderingar. Uppdraget omfattar: effek-ter av arbetsmarknadspolitik, arbetsmarknadens funktionssätt, arbetsmarknads-effekter av åtgärder inom...

Thesis (doctoral)--Stockholm University, 2001.