Ratio is an interdisciplinary research institute, with a research focus on the conditions of business and enterprise.

08-441 59 00 info@ratio.se

802002-5212

Sveavägen 59 4trp

11359 Stockholm

Bankgiro: 512-6578

Publications Seminars People

Popular

Labour market research

Competitiveness research

Climate and environmental research

Health insurance premium changes and labor supply: Evidence from a low-income country - Ratio

PublicationWorking paper

Health insurance premium changes and labor supply: Evidence from a low-income country

Abstract

We study the effect of a health insurance premium policy change on labor supply. Using a matching with difference-in-differences strategy on pooled nationwide cross-sectional and panel data we find that both premium waivers and premium increases led to a reduction in labor supply by almost similar margins. We also show that the policy change reduced the probability of wage employment and increased domestic labor supply, pointing to potential income effect for waivers and potential manipulation effects for premium increases. Our results are robust to various specifications and raise concerns for the unintended effects of popular but likely inefficient community-based welfare targeting methods.

Nshakira-Rukundo, E., Schroeder, S., Hisarciklilar, M., & McKay, A. (2024). Health insurance premium changes and labor supply: Evidence from a low-income country (Ruhr Economic Papers No. 1103). RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research.

Details

Author: Schroeder, S.
Publication year: Schroeder, S.
Published in: European Economic Review

Related

Ph.D.
Sarah Schroeder
Sschroeder@econ.au.dk

Similar content

Working Paper No. 380. Artificial Intelligence, hiring and employment: Job postings evidence from Sweden.

Engberg, E., Hellsten, M., Javed, F., Lodefalk, M., Sabolová, R., Schroeder, S.

Publication year

2024

Published in

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on hiring and employment, using the universe of job postings published by the Swedish Public Employment Service from 2014-2022 and universal register data for Sweden. We construct a detailed measure of AI exposure according to occupational content and find that establishments exposed to AI are more likely to hire AI workers. Survey data further indicate that AI exposure aligns with greater use of AI services. Importantly, rather than displacing non-AI workers, AI exposure is positively associated with increased hiring for both AI and non-AI roles. In the absence of substantial productivity gains that might account for this increase, we interpret the positive link between AI exposure and non-AI hiring as evidence that establishments are using AI to augment existing roles and expand task capabilities, rather than to replace non-AI workers.

Article (with peer review)

Exporters, multinationals and residual wage inequality: Evidence and theory

Publication year

2025

Published in

European Economic Review

Abstract

A growing empirical literature underscores the pivotal role of ”global firms” in shaping labour market outcomes, including inequality. These are firms that participate in the international economy across multiple dimensions, including both trade and foreign direct investment (FDI). This prompts an important question: Is wage inequality among workers with similar characteristics primarily influenced by firms engaged solely in exporting, those involved solely in FDI, or by multinational enterprises (MNEs) that do both? Using linked employer–employee panel data for Germany, this paper unveils nuanced patterns in wage premia among various internationalising establishments, where I identify sorting between workers and establishments as a key driver. I interpret these patterns using a theoretical model that incorporates trade and FDI with monopolistic competition, wherein heterogeneous firms operate within frictional labour markets as they search for workers. My model gives rise to a novel channel for the MNE wage premium, stemming from their ability to transfer their human resource practices to their plant abroad.

Article (with peer review)

Artificial intelligence, tasks, skills and wages: Worker-level evidence from Germany

Engberg, E., Koch, M., Lodefalk, M., & Schroeder, S.

Publication year

2025

Published in

Research Policy

Abstract

As a first step, the study documents novel evidence on changes in tasks and skills within occupations in Germany over the past two decades. It further identifies a distinct relationship between ex ante occupational work content and ex post exposure to artificial intelligence (AI) and automation through robots. Workers in occupations with high AI exposure perform different activities and face different skill requirements than workers in occupations primarily exposed to robots, suggesting that AI and robots substitute for different types of tasks and skills. The study also shows that changes in the task and skill content of occupations are related to their initial exposure to these technologies. Finally, using individual labour market biographies, the analysis investigates the relationship between AI exposure and wages. By examining the dynamic effects of AI exposure over time, the study finds positive associations with wages, with nuanced differences across occupational groups, thereby providing further insight into the substitutability and augmentability of AI.