Wage Bargaining and Political Strength in the Public Sector

This paper analysis the link between political strength and public sector wages using a unique matched individual-employer data set for Norwegian local governments during the period 1990-1998. The results indicate that political strength, measured in several ways, has a positive effect on wages, while administrative strength, measured by the tenure of the chief executive, has a negative effect. The positive effect of political strength is consistent with a model in which the budgetary process is a multistage game and employment is determined in an interaction with interest groups prior to the wage bargain.public sector labor market, wage bargaining, political strength, budgetary process

Joker: Choice in a simple game with large stakes

This paper examines data from the Norwegian television game show Joker, where contestants make well-specified choices under risk. The game involves very large stakes, randomly drawn contestants, and ample opportunities for learning. Expected utility (EU) theory gives a simple prediction of choice under weak conditions, as one choice is always first-order stochastically dominating. We document frequent, systematic and costly violations of dominance. Most alternative theories fail to add explanatory power beyond the EU benchmark, but many contestants appear to have a systematic expectation bias that can be related to Tversky and Kahneman?s (1973) "availability heuristic". In addition, there seems to be a stochastic element in choice that is well captured by the so-called Fechner model.Risky choice; stochastic dominance; choice models; stakes; game show

Utvalgsseleksjon og manglende data. Noen metodemessige utfordringer

Arbeidsnotatet diskuterer noen metodemessige utfordringer ved håndtering av utvalgsseleksjon og manglende data, spesielt hvordan James Heckman's seleksjonsmodell kan anvendes for dette formålet. Arbeidsnotatet er skrevet på bakgrunn av et metodekurs som forfatteren holdt på NIFU STEP i 2005

Teacher Sorting, Teacher Quality, and Student Composition: Evidence from Norway

Using panel data for Norwegian schools, we establish a two-equation supply and demand model for teachers with approved education. Taking into account nationally determined teacher pay and a strict teacher appointment rule, the data enable us to separately estimate supply and demand functions for certified teachers. The results clearly indicate that the student body composition, and in particular students belonging to ethnic minorities, influences both teacher supply and teacher demand. The implied negative relationship between excess demand for certified teachers and the share of minority students is likely to be important for teacher quality.Teacher sorting; Teacher quality; School choice

Politics in Wage setting: Does government colour matter?

This paper studies the relationship between wage formation and the political colour of the government in an economy with centralized wage bargaining. Ideological, organizational and personal ties between the central trade union and the social democratic political party suggest that the trade union may behave significantly different in wage negotiations under a social democratic than under a conservative government. Using time series data for Norway, we estimate that changing from a conservative to a social democratic central government significantly reduces manufacturing wages and makes wages more responsive to unemployment. This result is consistent with a wage bargaining model augmented by political preferences of the union leaders and suggests that the effect of bargaining coordination depends on the political colour of the government. The estimated effects are both robust with respect to model specification and stable over time.Wages; political regime;time series analysis

Om høgskolepedagogikken som samarbeid mellom de tre Innlandshøgskolene: Gjøvik, Hedmark og Lillehammer

Dette notatet handler om grunnlaget for å etablere et fastere samarbeid om høgskolepedagogisk utdanning og utviklingsarbeid mellom de tre høgskolen i Innlandet: Gjøvik, Hedmark og Lillehammer. Rapporten tar fram personalpolitiske og universitets- og høgskolepedagogiske forutsetninger for et slikt samarbeid, samt bringer noen tanker om hvordan dette kan utvikles videre