Based on a panel of data for Swedish manufacturing firms in 1990-2000, this paper finds strong evidence for the existence of positive spillover effects from inward FDI. The presence of foreign ownership in the same industry and region seems to enhance the total factor productivity of domestic...

Since almost two decades back a large number of LDCs have embarked on World Bank supported structural adjustment programs with the objective to promote econ-omic growth and private investment. I consider how the design of reform programs can increase reform credibility and thus reduce...

The paper compares the distribution of individuals’ wage to the distribution of labor compensation when important non-wage benefits are included. In our study for Sweden focus is on pensions, survivors’ benefits and sickness benefits. These are non-observed. A method of estimating these...

This paper presents evidence on the behavior of the Swedish real exchange rate relative to Germany under different currency regimes 1973:1-2001:4. The results suggest that the real exchange rate is cointegrated with Swedish and German productivity, which is consistent with Balassa (1964) and...

A large share of world trade, especially among the OECD countries, is two-way trade within industries, so called intra-industry trade. Despite this, few attempts have been made to examine why countries export some products within industries, whereas they import others. We examine this issue, by...

Out-of-sample forecasting accuracy is a frequently used criterion for evaluating models of exchange rate determination. This paper shows that both UIP and PPP produce better exchange rate forecasts at the ten-year horizon than a random walk without drift. There are two novelties relative to...

We study the link between exporting and productivity at the firm level. Like in previous studies we get support for that more productive firms self-select into the export market. In addition, and contrary to many of the former studies, we also obtain evidence for that exporting further increases...

Most labour market analyses take money wages as the sole measure of compensation for labour, thus excluding fringe benefits. We examine an extended compensation measure by incorporating mandatory collective earnings-related insurance rights: the rights of individual old age pension, sickness...

Swedish wage setting has undergone drastic changes during the last 10-15 years. While Sweden was known for its narrow wage distribution, wage differentiation and wage bargaining at the individual level has become leading principles among white-collar workers’ unions. The purpose of the present...

We show that when two countries are the same size then the country with stronger preferences in favour of domestic varieties of differentiated goods produced under increasing returns (IRS) will be the net exporter of that good. It is also shown that strong preferences for domestic varieties...