Niklas Hanes

Amalgamation Impacts on Local Public Expenditures in Sweden

Abstract This paper concerns amalgamation impacts on local public expenditures. The empirical analysis is based on the extensive 1952 municipal reform in Sweden. The 1952 reform amalgamated municipalities in a way that they had at least 2,000–3,500 inhabitants. This was done in the belief that larger municipalities would improve administration efficiency and public services by exploiting economies of scale. The results show that the reform had a negative impact on expenditures as long as the municipalities did not exceed a critical size.

Municipal Preferences for State-imposed Amalgamations: : An Empirical Study Based on the Swedish Municipal Reform of 1952

This paper concerns municipal preferences for state-imposed municipal amalgamations, focusing on factors that may explain municipal acceptance of, or objection to, a state-imposed amalgamation decision. The empirical analysis is based on the extensive municipal reform that occurred in Sweden in 1952, which reduced the number of municipalities from 2498 to 1037. In 66 per cent of the amalgamated cases, at least one municipality complained. The results show that income differences affected the willingness to amalgamate; high-income municipalities opposed amalgamation with less wealthy municipalities. The results also indicate that the size (absolute and relative) of the municipalities affected their willingness to amalgamate. Small and large municipalities were most likely to accept the amalgamation decision and equally sized municipalities were less likely to amalgamate voluntarily.

Psychological Traits and Earnings Differentials Among Men: A Study of Second‐Generation Immigrants in Sweden

The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of psychological traits on earnings differentials between second-generation immigrants and individuals with native-born parents. The study is base ...

THE CIVIL RETURNS OF MILITARY TRAINING: A STUDY OF YOUNG MEN IN SWEDEN

The purpose of our study was to examine the effect of military training on the earnings of young men in Sweden. The analysis is based on the cohort of males born in 1973. This cohort was conscripted during a time of rapid change in Swedish security policy and substantial cutbacks in the armed forces. As a consequence, a relatively large proportion of the cohort was assigned a service category after the enlistment test but one third of these individuals were never conscripted. We argue that these organizational changes, along with data on important background variables, make it possible to rely on selection on observables. A clear finding is that military training has a positive effect on annual earnings at the age of 30 for those men in the category ‘private soldier’ who do not subsequently obtain a high level of educational.

CHILDCARE REFORM: EFFECTS ON EARNINGS AND EMPLOYMENT AMONG NATIVE SWEDISH AND IMMIGRANT MOTHERS

This paper studies earnings and labor force participation of native Swedes and recent immigrants in Sweden in response to the childcare reforms of 2001 and 2002 using a difference-in-differences ap ...