Women make up almost 50 percent of the employed population in Norway, but only about 25 percent of the entrepreneurs. Using registry data on the whole population we address gender differences in the propensity to become an entrepreneur. We do so by analysing transition from ordinary wage...

In spite of increased labour market participation in recent decades, women in Norway still have high part-time rates and seldom work more than their partners. Given that an aging population implies a projected large labour demand in many Western countries, it is important to explore potential...

The presence of children still tends to reinforce a traditional division of labour in couples in many countries. This paper explores possible changes in the relationship between parenthood and the division of labour in Norway from 1980 to 2010 – a period with reduced gender differences in time...

An equal division of paid and unpaid work is a central political ambition in Norway. Yet, couples’ division of paid work has been less studied than their division of unpaid work. This paper shows that women seldom work more than their partner, but equal sharing is now increasing. Still, about...

This paper presents results from an evaluation of a Norwegian initiative to combat poverty launched in 2003. Central to the plan is a broad spectrum of rehabilitation and activation measures intended to help long-term social security recipients from welfare to work. We illuminate short-term...

This paper analyzes the (re)entry of Norwegian mothers into full-time and part-time employment following the first and second birth. Based on theories of job search and human capital depreciation and appreciation a semi-parametric hazard model is estimated, expressing the entry rate as a...

This paper compares the employment patterns of women after first and second birth in Finland, Norway and Sweden during 1972-92, focusing on the impact of parental leave and childcare programs on the transitions to full-time and part-time work. The results unanimously point to the great...

Since the 1960s, Beckers’ New Home Economics has provided a central theoretical framework for studies of fertility behaviour. New Home Economics predict a negative effect of female wages on fertility. This prediction has been tested in a number of studies over the past decades, but the results...

Universal parental leaves with job protection and earnings compensation increase women’s attachment to the labour market, but very long leaves may have negative consequences both at the individual and the societal level. Some scholars have therefore argued that generous family-friendly...