Infrastructure-Based Versus Service-Based : Competition In Telecommunications

Unbundling of the local loop (ULL) has seen quite different "success stories" in the various countries across Europe. Although the obligation for the provision of ULL was implemented in the regulatory framework early and mostly parallel to other means of liberalisation, national implementation has been rather heterogeneous. One question of decisive importance for national regulatory authorities (NRAs) was whether to foster service-based competition in the first phase of liberalisation or to focus on infrastructurebased competition. The different NRAs chose to head down different roads. This paper analyses whether the strategy of NRAs has had any mid-term effect on the economic welfare created in the communications markets. It indicates that infrastructure-based competition has a positive effect on innovation. Moreover, infrastructure-based competition appears to be more important for business customers than for residential clients. On the other hand, service-based competition lowers call prices and appears to be more important to residential markets. The results of this study point out the importance of a balanced approach to both types of policies.competition; telecommunication; ladder of infrastructure; ladder of investement; regulatory policies

Housing, management and health in Swedish dairy calves

This thesis discusses the results of an observational study conducted in dairy herds in the south-western Sweden and a questionnaire survey of dairy herds done throughout Sweden. In the observational study the health of 3 081 heifer calves in 122 dairy herds was monitored from birth until 90 days of age. Disease incidence was recorded by farmers and by project veterinarians. The calves’ heart girth was measured at birth and at weaning. The average growth of the calves was 600 g per day. We investigated the effects of calf-level, herd-related and dam-related factors on growth and the incidence risk of infectious diseases. The total morbidity found was 23%; enteritis and respiratory disease were the most common diagnoses. The placing of calf pens along an outer wall, ingestion of first colostrum by suckling, receiving colostrum from a younger cow, being of Swedish Red and White breed (SRB) and birth during the summer were significantly associated with an increased risk for enteritis. A low ammonia concentration, draught, bovine viral diarrhoea virus infection in the herd, a poor capacity of the farmer to keep accurate records, being a cross-breed, housing in large group pens, and birth during the winter season, during the night, in a cubicle, a group calving pen or at pasture, as well as unsupervised calving, and factors related to the health of the dam were significantly associated with an increased risk of respiratory morbidity. Receiving colostrum from a young cow, absence of draught, being housed in a calf pen placed along an outer wall and being born during the night were found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of other infectious diseases. Growth was negatively affected by being of SRB breed, housing in large group pens, disease, difficult calving, first parity of the dam and retained placenta. The questionnaire was sent to 1 500 dairy farmers in Sweden and asked for routines from birth to first calving for replacement heifers. It identifies several areas in which advisory input is urgently needed, such as the colostrum routines, the heating of whole milk and the housing of calves and heifers

The Health Returns to Education: What Can We Learn from Twins?

This paper estimates the health returns to education, using data on identical twins. I adopt a twin-differences strategy in order to obtain estimates that are not biased by unobserved family background and genetic traits that may affect both education and health. I further investigate to what extent within-twin-pair differences in schooling correlates with within-twin-pair differences in early life health and parent-child relations. The results suggest a causal effect of education on health. Higher educational levels are found to be positively related to self-reported health but negatively related to the number of chronic conditions. Lifestyle factors, such as smoking and overweight, are found to contribute little to the education/health gradient. I am also able to rule out occupational hazards and health insurance coverage as explanations for the gradient. In addition, I find no evidence of heterogenous effects of education by parental education. Finally, the results suggest that factors that may vary within twin pairs, such as birth weight, early life health, parental treatment and relation with parents, do not predict within-twin pair differences in schooling, lending additional credibility to my estimates and to the general validity of using a twin-differences design to study the returns to education.health production, education, schooling, twins, siblings, returns to education, ability bias

Individual Wage Setting, Efficiency Wages and Productivity in Sweden

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 paper is to analyse the consequences of this wage policy shift. Wage differences have increased drastically among white-collar workers while remained constant or even decreased among blue collar workers. We show that wage differentiation has had a strong effect on white collar workers’ average wage, and caused a major increase in the wage gap between the aggregates of whitecollar and blue-collar workers. We also show that increases in the coefficient of variation of wages raise productivity in firms with many workers in that worker category. Last and foremost, we show that the transition to individual wage setting raises the scope for firms to set efficiency wages and we find support for the fair wage version of efficiency wage setting. The effects of higher wage/fair wage rates were stronger in the late 1990s, when wage differentiation increased more, than in the early 2000s.Efficiency wages; productivity; wage differentials

Which Wage Dispersion Matters to Firms' Performance?

Research on wage dispersion and firm performance focuses on intra-firm and inter firm effects irrespective of workers’ profession. We extend the analysis by considering dispersion within professions, within and across firms and within professions economy-wide. We find that the intra-firm dispersion of wages, which research so far has focused on, has limited effects on productivity compared to the economy-wide wage dispersion within the professions. As Swedish firms have differentiated wages among employees during the last 10-15 years also the economy-wide dispersion within professions has increased thus contributing considerably to the strong performance of the Swedish economy in the late 1990's.-

Wage Fairness, Growth and the Utilization of R&D Workers

In 1999, only one of three US scientists and engineers was employed to do R&D and, in several countries over the last forty to fifty years, employment of skilled workers for R&D purposes appears not to have kept pace with the overall increase in the supply of skilled workers. Low utilization of R&D personnel implies low growth per human capital endowments. To analyze the low R&D utilization/low growth equilibria, we set up an endogenous growth model in which firms set fair wages and which allows for an analysis of changes in the utilization rate of R&D workers. We find that the rise in under utilization and the fall in growth per human capital to be consistent with the increase in the demand for higher education. This could be interpreted as the “consumption” element in higher education has received an increased importance yielding a low growth effect of higher education. The results also point at problems of correctly measuring actual human capital inputs in firms.Efficiency wages; fairness; growth

EU enlargement, migration and labour market institutions

"This paper discusses free immigration to regulated labour markets (as in Europe) and to unregulated labour markets (as in the US), and explores the implications for migration flows of collective agreements, employment protection laws, product market regulations etc. It is argued that the European type of labour market institutions prevent wage dumping and restrict major immigration flows to periods of business peaks in the immigration country. Based on the empirical evidence on the differences in institutions, it is argued for instance that the UK and Ireland are likely to be exposed to larger wage effects than for instance Germany and Austria. Labour market institutions are likely to grow more similar across countries and stricter as a consequence of free mobility." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))EU-Erweiterung, internationale Wanderung, Einwanderung - Auswirkungen, Arbeitsmigration, Arbeitsmarktentwicklung, institutionelle Faktoren, Regulierung, Tarifvertrag, Lohnpolitik, Gütermarkt, Wettbewerb, Arbeitsmarkt, Kündigungsschutz, Kündigungsrecht, Arbeitsrecht, europäische Integration, Konvergenz, Konjunkturaufschwung, Konjunkturabhängigkeit, Europäische Union

Distributional Effects of Wage Leadership: Evidence from Sweden

This paper represents the first analysis of the consequences of a formal wage leadership, the Swedish Industry Agreement. We show that leadership in general has implied a lowered wage level for occupational groups having signed the agreement compared to groups that have not signed it. This is as expected as wage leadership should stabilize wage increases. However, the effects differ widely across occupations and skilled groups that signed the agreement have raised their wage level compared to otherwise similar workers outside the agreement. The agreement seems to have had a less binding effect on skilled workers. A possible explanation is that local wage formation is more common among the skilled groups. The agreement has increased the wage level among high educated compared to low educated and thus raised the education premium. Difference-in-differences models are applied using register data 1990-2005.Wage leadership; Differences-in-differences.

Survey Evidence on Wage Rigidity and Unemployment: Sweden in the 1990s

This study reports the results from a repeat survey among managers in Swedish manufacturing, designed to explore how a severe and prolonged macroeconomic shock affects wage rigidity and unemployment. Our second survey was conducted in 1998, when the unemployment rate was much higher, and the inflation rate much lower, than when we conducted the first survey in 1991. We find no evidence that the increase in unemployment has softened the mechanisms generating wage rigidity. On the contrary, we conclude that – because of severe downward nominal wage rigidity – real wages have become more rigid during Sweden’s move to a low-inflation environment. We also report a range of new evidence on underbidding, efficiency wage mechanisms, job security legislation, workers’ wage norms, and to what extent the long-term unemployed are subject to statistical discrimination.Unemployment; wage rigidity; repeat survey; recession

Is There a Long Run Unemployment-Inflation Trade-off in Sweden?

We present a small open economy version of Akerlof, Dickens and Perry (2000) and, based on Swedish data, we show that there exists a negatively sloped long run Phillips curve. Regressions on quarterly data 1963-2000 and estimated inflation expectations show that this Phillips curve is relatively robust and that an unemployment rate of close to two percent is consistent with an inflation target slightly above its present level of two percent. However, estimations based on survey data suggest that a considerably higher inflation rate, of around four percent, is necessary to yield a lowest sustainable unemployment rate. These latter estimates seem better adjusted to the recent Swedish macroeconomic experiences. If Sweden enters the EMU, and if the ECB targets inflation at a lower level than the Riksbank, employment as well as output will be lower than today. Moreover, if the inflation-unemployment trade-off differs widely across the member states of the EMU, then a single inflation rate in the EMU-area implies that long run unemployment rates will also differ across the member countries.Phillips curve; Efficiency wages; Near-rationality