Marknadshyrans Effekt på Arbetslösheten - En Difference-in-difference-studie av avskaffandet av hyresregleringen i Finland

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how the abolishment of rent control and changed mobility on the labor market in Finland affects its unemployment. It is of importance to examine the mechanisms that affect unemployment as it helps provide insights into how to reduce both the personal and societal consequences of unemployment. We therefore conduct two Difference-in-difference analysis’ to test whether the adaptation to market rent in Finland strengthened its populations mobility, and if this in turn have facilitated the matching process on the labor market and thereby decreased the unemployment in the country. By using Sweden, in which the regulation of the housing market differs from Finland, as a control group it is possible to compare how the unemployment has changed in the two countries since Finland adopted market rent. We found that the abolishment of rent control only had an effect on the short-term unemployment and mobility. However, the results should be interpreted with reservation as some of the data was flawed and as the 1990’s recession occurred simultaneously to the adaption to market rent in Finland, possibly affecting the results on unemployment. Nevertheless, the lack of results on the unemployment as a whole cannot exclude that the abolishment of rent regulation actually did have an effect on the labor market.