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PublicationArticle (with peer review)

Innovation in Malmö after the Öresund bridge

Abstract

We analyze the effect of the Öresund Bridge, a combined railway and motorway bridge between Swedish Malmö and the Danish capital Copenhagen, on inventive activity in the region of Malmö. Applying difference-in-difference estimation on individual-level data, our findings suggest that the Öresund Bridge led to a significant increase in the number of patents per individual in the Malmö region as compared with the two other major regions in Sweden, Gothenburg, and Stockholm. We show that a key mechanism is the attraction of highly qualified workers to the Malmö region following the construction of the bridge.

The article in total can be accessed here.

Ejermo, O., Hussinger, K., Kalash, B., & Schubert, T. (2022). Innovation in Malmö after the Öresund bridge. Journal of Regional Science, 62(1), 5-20.

Details

Author
Ejermo, O., Hussinger, K., Kalash, B., & Schubert, T.
Publication year
2022
Published in

Journal of Regional Science, 62(1), 5-20.

Related

  • Professor

    Olof Ejermo

    olof.ejermo@ekh.lu.se

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Working paper

Ratio Working Paper No. 390: Fighting Populism by Rethinking Welfare

Karlson, N.
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Publication year

2026

Published in

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Abstract

Populism thrives on discontent. It could be anything from migration and xenophobia to globalization and welfare failures. Populists deliberately use such discontent to promote polarization by demonizing opponents and attacking media, established elites, courts etc. in the name of the “true people”. As a consequence, democracy, the rule of law, and sound social and economic policies are undermined, with long-term disastrous effects. In many cases, however, the original discontent is caused by real policy failures that have not been properly solved. A major strategy for fighting back at the populist threats therefore must be to improve policy. This paper focuses on the policy failures of welfare states, a major source of discontent in many democracies. I argue that the concept of welfare has been captured and misinterpreted into government assistance programs, a presumption that needs to be abandoned and replaced by interpreting welfare as human flourishing, something that primarily can be promoted within markets and civil society, supported by a small, limited, and decent state.

Working paper

Ratio Working Paper No. 389: Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Academic Careers

Ejermo, O., & Holmström, P.
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Publication year

2026

Published in

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Abstract

Using population-wide data on Swedish university researchers and teachers, we identify the effects of parenthood on academic careers. Leveraging staggered event-study models that compare mothers and fathers around first birth, we document widening gender gaps in publication output, wage income, promotion, and PhD completion. These gaps arise across all scientific fields. We further document substantial gender differences prior to first birth and among never-parents, indicating that child-related penalties explain only part of the overall academic gender gap.

Article (with peer review)

Competition and Voice in Public Education: Evidence from Sweden

Sebhatu, A., Wennberg, K., Lakomaa, E., & Brandén, M.

Publication year

2026

Published in

Education Finance and Policy, 1-40

Abstract

While numerous studies examine the effects of school competition on student performance, little research directly addresses a key critique of competition: its potential to negatively affect parental engagement and voice. We draw on Hirschman’s theory of voice to argue that voucher-based school competition increases opportunities for exit but may crowd out voice. To assess the causal effects of competition on parental voice, we employ a robust two-way fixed effects difference-in-differences framework, comparing municipalities in Sweden that introduced competition with those that did not. Our findings indicate that school complaints decline following the introduction of competition. This decrease in voice is driven by neither a decrease in problems in school nor by changes in teaching staff quality or attrition. This suggests that the decrease in complaints is driven not by an increase in school quality but rather by a substitution from voice to exit.

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