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Vilket EU vill vi ha?

Abstract

Vilket EU vill vi ha? Det borde vara den avgörande frågan i valet till Europaparlamentet. Men också i den offentliga diskussionen de år som följer.

I Ratios nya forskarantologi Vilket EU vill vi ha? visas att den svenska utrikeshandeln nästan har fördubblats och ökat välståndet med mellan 3 och 20 procent, tack vare EU och den ökade öppenheten. Dessutom har den svenska rättsstaten stärkts, vilket även stärkt den svenska demokratin.

Samtidigt finns flera stora utmaningar som hänger ihop med bristen på väl fungerande gemensamma institutioner på EU-nivå. Det den inre marknaden, men också säkerhets- och miljöpolitiken.

Frågan är om EU ska bejaka mångfald i enhet, genom fri handel, fria marknader och fri rörlighet inom ramen för ett begränsat överstatligt, federalt system? Eller om EU ska fortsätta att utvecklas i centralistisk riktning med fler gemensamma lagar och regler, inom ramen för ett överstatligt, federalt system, utan en given gräns för överstatligheten? Det är den viktiga framtidsfrågan.

Karlson, N. (Eds.) (2014). Vilket EU vill vi ha?Stockholm: Ratio.

Details

Author: Karlson, N.
Publication year: 2014
Published in: Vilket EU vill vi ha?

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Professor, Founder and former CEO
Nils Karlson
+46708670351nils.karlson@ratio.se

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Article (with peer review)

Insider activism in the forest industry: An emerging phenomenon?

Grafström, J., & Karlson, N.

Publication year

2026

Published in

Forest Policy and Economics, 185, 103732

Abstract

Insider activism refers to situations where public officials use administrative discretion to advance personal or ideological preferences. Although the concept has received increasing attention in organizational and political science research, empirical evidence remains limited. This research note examines whether insider activism may influence regulatory practice in the Swedish forestry sector and how perceived enforcement uncertainty affects forest owners’ behavior. A survey of forest owner representatives in southern Sweden indicates low trust in regulatory objectivity and weak perceptions of legal security. Many respondents report experiences of officials acting beyond their formal mandate. The findings suggest that perceived activism-driven uncertainty encourages defensive strategies among forest owners, including early harvesting and reduced willingness to report environmental values.

Working Paper No. 383 Insider activism in the forest industry: An empirical public choice analysis

Jonas Grafström & Nils Karlson

Publication year

2025

Published in

Ratio Working Paper Series

Abstract

Insider activism—where bureaucrats use discretionary power to advance own ideological goals—has significant implications for regulatory stability and property rights security. Using the Swedish forestry industry as a case study, the purpose of this study is to investigate if insider activism affects the Swedish forestry sector and how such possible regulatory uncertainty influences economic decision-making. Assembled survey data suggest that forest owners perceive regulatory enforcement as unpredictable, leading to defensive actions such as premature harvesting to preempt restrictive future regulations. To explain these patterns, we apply public choice theory and a game-theoretic approach, demonstrating how bureaucratic drift, regulatory ratcheting, and time-inconsistency problems contribute to persistent distortions in forestry policies. Policy wise, the findings emphasize the need for judicial review, regulatory impact assessments, and clearer legislative mandates to reduce enforcement uncertainty and improve institutional trust. This research advances discussions on bureaucratic incentives, regulatory capture, and legal certainty in environmental policy.

City size, employer concentration, and wage income inequality

Halvarsson, D., & Korpi, M.

Publication year

2025

Published in

Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU)

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between the urban wage premium and employer concentration using Swedish full population employer-employee data. Departing from an AKM modeling framework to distinguish worker from firm specific heterogeneity – a measure of rent-sharing – we then measure the urban wage premium using differences in the estimated firm fixed effects at the level of local industries, nested within local labor markets. Our results suggest that labor market employer concentration, as calculated using the Hirschman-Herfindahl index and a leave-one-out instrumental variable design, can account for a significant share of the estimated urban wage premium (UWP). Addressing city-level wage income inequality by applying our model to different segments of the local labor market income distribution, we find that while the UWP pertains to all income segments, it is largest for top-income levels (above the 90th percentile), and within this segment employer concentration also has the largest explanatory power. Thus, while being an important explanatory factor for all percentiles of the local income distribution, a relatively lower employer concentration within larger cities, and vice versa, higher concentration within smaller cities, primarily help explain the variance of top wages within these cities/labor markets.