In this paper, I first show that Swedish job polarization is - contrary to common belief - a long-run phenomenon: the share of middle-wage jobs has declined relative to the highest- and lowest-paid jobs since at least the 1950s. Based on previous results for the US, I then demonstrate that the...

This paper investigates the connection between the Swedish wage profile of net job creation and Autor, Levy, and Murnane's (2003) proposed substitutability between routine tasks and technology. We first show that between 1975 and 2005, Sweden exhibited a pattern of job polarization with...

This paper investigates the role of skill depreciation in the relationship between work interruptions and subsequent wages. Using a unique longitudinal dataset, the Swedish part of the International Adult Literacy Survey, we are able to analyze changes in literacy skills for individuals as a...

This paper investigates changes in educational wage differentials in Sweden between 1992 and 2001 and places them in a longer-term perspective. The university wage premium has increased noticeably between 1992 and 2001 while the gymnasium wage premium has been constant. These results, together...

Using a rich longitudinal database, I study the dynamics behind changes in the distribution of annual earnings in Sweden 1991 to 1999. The analysis indicates a systematic increase in persistent earnings differentials during the 1990s; workers with low relative earnings in the beginning of the...

Many workers with low levels of educational attainment immigrated to the United States in recent decades. Large inflows of less educated immigrants would reduce wages paid to comparably-educated native-born workers if the two groups are perfectly substitutable in production. In a simple model...

The revival of international migration in the last fifteen years has spurred economists to more systematically study their determinants and consequences. This contribution expands the existing literature in two directions. First we focus on the European Union as a whole and compare it to the US...

Recent influential empirical work has emphasized the negative impact immigrants have on the wages of U.S.-born workers, arguing that immigration harms less educated American workers in particular and all U.S.-born workers in general. Because U.S. and foreign born workers belong to different...

As of 2004 California employed almost 30% of all foreign born workers in the U.S. and was the state with the largest percentage of immigrants in the labor force. It also received a very large number of Mexican and uneducated immigrants during the recent decades. If immigration harms the labor...

This paper investigates the role of skill depreciation in the relationship between work interruptions and subsequent wages. Using unique longitudinal microdata containing information on the ability to understand and practically employ printed information, we are able to analyze changes in skills...