Working Paper No. 294: Technological Change and Wage Polarization – The Illiberal Populist Response

PublikationWorking paper
Arbetsmarknad, Jonas Grafström, Teknikskiften
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Sammanfattning

The purpose of this paper is to discuss populist actions that are expected follow technological change on the labor market.1 The causes and consequences of possible technological unemployment will be addressed and to what extent it could be expected that the rapid technological change leads to unemployment (or that the labor market adapts in a similar way to previous technological changes as has been seen in history so far). A transforming labor market will constitute challenges for the future – possible wage polarization and heterogeneous distribution of unemployment in the labor force might create a demand for policy solutions that have an illiberal direction. In the paper it will be argued that the threat of populism will come from a disgruntled middle class rather than as commonly believed the poorer strata of the wage distribution.

Grafström, J. (2017). Technological Change and Wage Polarization – The Illiberal Populist Response. Ratio Working Paper No. 294. Stockholm: Ratio.


Liknande innehåll

Working Paper No. 379: Europe’s Future Industrial Landscape: A Green Industrial Location Attractiveness Index
Working paperPublikation
Grafström, J.
Publiceringsår

2024

Publicerat i

Ratio Working Paper Series.

Sammanfattning

Increased gas prices, constraints in nuclear power generation, and diminished hydroelectric production have introduced challenges for Europe, coinciding with an emerging green industrialization. Utilizing data from the European Commission and Eurostat, we introduce the Green Industrial Location Attractiveness Index, a tool designed to help assessing locations of future green industrial developments. Our findings highlight Sweden, Finland, and France as probable destinations for green industrial projects. A revealing geographical divide where northern European countries rank higher compared to their southern counterparts. This analysis enhances our understanding of Europe’s changing industrial landscape amidst volatile electricity prices, offering insights for policymakers and investors. An overarching conclusion of the paper is that well-crafted energy policies help mitigate the economic impacts of energy price fluctuations on energy-intensive industries, ensuring that Europe’s industrial landscape remain competitive.

Economic freedom and environmental performance
BokkapitelPublikation
Graftström, J.
Publiceringsår

2024

Publicerat i

Handbook of Research on Economic Freedom. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Sammanfattning

In this chapter, the relationship between economic freedom and environmental performance is scrutinized. The analysis relies on comparing countries’ standing in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) of the Yale Centre for Environmental Law & Policy with two indexes of economic freedom, one developed by the Fraser Institute (Economic Freedom of the World index), and the other by the Heritage Foundation (Index of Economic Freedom). Whether economic freedom is good or bad for the environment depends on how it affects incentives, productive efforts, and effective resource use. Greater economic freedom can both harm and help environmental performance. It is a complicated relationship, but high economic freedom generally goes hand in hand with high scores in the EPI.

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