| dc.description.abstract | This thesis consists of five papers in applied labor economics. The first two papers are related to wage
discrimination between males and females, whereas the next two papers are related to labor supply and
welfare participation, while the last paper analysis early retirement in Sweden.
`Endogenous Schooling and the Distribution of the Gender Wage Gap' studies how the unexplained
wage gap is affected by treating years of education in a traditional wage equation as endogenous. The
result shows that the estimated wage differentials are substantial higher using OLS than using IV and
panel data. We find that the gender wage gap differs substantially across different values of work
experience and that the unexplained gender wage gap has increased over time.
`Occupational Gender Composition and Wages in Sweden' analyzes the relationship between wages
and occupational gender segregation in Sweden controlling for non-random selection into an
occupation. The result shows that the unexplained gender wage gap is largest in female dominated
occupations and smallest in male dominated occupations. Females' experience earnings profile is
steeper for women in male dominated occupations. Ignoring occupational segregation produces
considerable higher estimates of the unexplained part of the gender wage gap.
`Household Labor Supply and Welfare Participation in Sweden' studies the joint effects of the tax and
benefit systems on household labor supply. The estimates from the structural model yielded small wage
and income elasticities. A tax simulation showed that reducing the progressivity in the Swedish tax
system may have considerable welfare effects. The effect on working hours from the reform was quite
small, while the evaluation of a change in the welfare system showed that the stigma-effect had a
substantial impact.
`Labor Supply and Welfare Participation of Single Mothers in Sweden' analyzes the effects of changes
in income taxes, cost of childcare and social assistance on labor supply for single mothers households.
The results show that there is a positive and significant stigma-effect associated with welfare
participation. Fixed costs of working is an important factor in a single mothers' decision to enter the
labor market. We find a negative covariance between social assistance and labor supply, which implies
self-selection into welfare. Welfare effects from the childcare reform are quite similar across all income
deciles, even if predicted increases in hours of work are substantial for the poorest single mother
households.
`Early Retirement in Sweden' studies the determinants of early retirement from the Swedish labor
market for both males and females. The result shows that there is heterogeneity in the underlying
preference structure and that the probability of a complete early withdrawal from the labor market
increases with age. Blue collar workers have lower probability to take part time pension and full early
age retirement than workers from other occupational schemes. Finally, we find that economic
incitements affect the decision of Swedish workers to leave the labor market.
Keywords: Gender Wage Gap, Endogenous Schooling, Panel Data, Occupational Segregation, Labor
Supply, Welfare Participation, Unobserved Heterogeneity, Tax Simulation, Early Retirement,
Occupational Pension. | swe |
