Research initiatives and grants

Published

2020-02-18

Updated

2021-02-01

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Project manager	Administrator of appropriations	Project title	Subject matter	Year	Details
Peter Skogh	Technical Museum Foundation	Technology futures - the birth of modern Sweden	Economy	2024	Amount granted: SEK 2 500 000 The Tekniska museet Foundation is applying for funding to realize the museum's largest exhibition initiative ever - the story of the emergence of modern Sweden and the importance of technology and trade for it. It is a story to be inspired by, a story that needs to be told in a new way in a new time and that is missing in the public sphere today. A kind of critical stepping stone into the future. The exhibition will open in April 2026 and will conclude the museum's centenary celebrations, which began in December 2023. The museum has drawn on new research about Sweden, with the ambition of giving young people in particular, but also older people, the opportunity to think in new ways in a dystopian era and become curious about how they can help shape their own future based on the remarkable journey this country has made over the past 150 years. In many ways, the story of the rise of modern Sweden is a story of openness to the world. How dependent Sweden is on the world around it. How we have drawn ideas, knowledge, labor and skills from outside and where trade has played a central role. It is an important message when the world seems to be closing in. It is an inclusive story that everyone can be part of and contribute to, even in the continued creation of Sweden's future. For the small and open economy that Sweden is, trade with other countries plays a fundamental role. This crucial perspective is often missing in the story of technological development. This is where the Torsten Söderberg Foundation can play a crucial role.
Therese Nilsson	Institute for Business Research	The role of cultural norms in migrant work and enterprise development	Economy	2024	Amount granted: SEK 1 704 600 In this continuation application, we seek funding to further study how immigrants, from different countries with different cultural characteristics, cope with and influence the Swedish labor market from two perspectives. We study how cultural factors affect immigrants' labor market integration, focusing on the effects of coming from cultures with different degrees of, for example, tolerance, trust, religiosity and individualism. We also study how the multicultural composition of the labor force affects the functioning of companies, profitability, personnel growth and innovations. We seek funding to further our understanding of these relationships. We deepen our analysis of how both high and low tolerance can be productive for the individual. We analyze a unique longitudinal firm database that is linked to individual data on employees. An additional strength is that we can link indicators of cultural factors and attitudes in immigrants' background countries to individual outcomes. This avoids problems of reverse causality. Our project is based on a real problem: weak labor market integration among foreign-born people. The project adds new policy-relevant knowledge that complements previous research. The project provides a basis for designing policies for a more inclusive and equal society, but also insights into how culture affects the functioning of the economy.
Martin Söndergaard	Stockholm School of Economics	Why responsible cooperation between competitors increases sales	Economy	2023	Amount granted: SEK 292 500 The project will explore how responsible collaborations between competitors can best be communicated. This is an important issue as very little research exists on how customers perceive competitors' collaborations, while communication about responsibility can lead to both more negative and more positive attitudes towards retail chains, depending on how it is communicated. Collaborations between competitors are an important step towards a more sustainable society. One example is when Coca-Cola and Pepsi decided to collaborate on replacing in-store refrigeration systems to make them more environmentally friendly. Another example is how Swedish grocery stores together with other industry players established the deposit system. How consumers perceive these initiatives can provide guidance on how they should be communicated. By demonstrating the profitability of communicating these types of initiatives, they can become more attractive for stores to cooperate. Based on the results of a pilot study already conducted, it seems that projects carried out in cooperation with competitors are perceived as more responsible. The research can provide insights not only on communication in this context, but also on marketing in general as it generates insights on the underlying psychology of consumers.
Paula Roth		Causes and consequences of over-indebtedness	Economy	2023	Amount granted: SEK 11 380 00 In Sweden, over 400,000 individuals are registered with debts for collection with the Swedish Enforcement Authority. The authority receives over one million applications for unpaid debts every year. In 2020, the number of applications increased by 26% compared to the same period the year before. Since then, the number of applications has fallen, but the median debt has instead increased by almost 20%. Despite the relatively high prevalence in the population, knowledge about the causes and consequences of over-indebtedness is low. The studies that do exist are largely based on interviews or survey responses and lack strategies to identify causal outcomes. Most studies focus on the relationship between over-indebtedness and health. The results show that over-indebted people are more likely to suffer from depression and chronic illness. The reason for the negative health effects is said to be the increased stress and stigma that over-indebtedness entails. In Sweden, the unique availability of individual data from the Swedish Enforcement Authority enables a systematic study of the effects of over-indebtedness. The research project aims to answer the following questions: (1) Why do individuals become over-indebted? (2) What are the social costs of the large number of over-indebted people in Sweden? By looking at individuals with debt and following their health and labor market outcomes, we can evaluate the negative effects of over-indebtedness. We will also look at whether over-indebtedness increases the risk of crime.
Thomas Tangerås	Institute for Business Research	New tools for analyzing markets with imperfect competition: Part 2	Economy	2023	Amount granted: SEK 657 000 In imperfectly competitive markets, firms use market power to charge excessive prices. Inefficiencies arise because customers refrain from buying even if their willingness to pay is higher than the cost of producing the good. Overpricing also leads to redistribution of income from consumers to firms. Quantitative analysis of market power is thus fundamental to evaluating how efficiently markets function and the degree of redistribution they generate. Existing methods for estimating competition have significant weaknesses because they are sensitive to assumptions that must be made about demand and cost conditions but cannot be verified. This is the second part of a project to develop methods that provide more reliable estimates of competition in the market by making minimal assumptions about underlying demand and costs. The second main objective of the project is to apply these methods to evaluate the extent to which firms exercise market power in the Nordic electricity market.
Magnus Lodefalk	Örebro University	Key factors behind AI's labor market impact	Economy	2023	Amount granted: SEK 787 700 Artificial intelligence (AI) has made great strides and is expected to fundamentally reshape the labor market. But in the absence of longitudinal microdata on firms and workers, research on the effects of AI is still limited, partly contradictory, and demonstrates associations rather than causality. In our ongoing data-driven project, we find that AI is associated with job growth, especially for white-collar workers, and that new occupations are emerging that demand cognitive, social and creative skills. In this continuation project, we focus on key factors behind AI's effects on productivity, wages, job content and work environment. We study firms' and employees' exposure and adaptation to different types of AI in four selected countries over two decades using methods from economics and computer science and unique microdata. We then identify general and specific causal effects on the outcome variables. The goal is to contribute with solid knowledge about how different groups of knowledge-intensive companies and officials are affected by AI. This is to enable politicians, authorities, companies and employees to make informed and future-oriented decisions. Knowledge-intensive services are central to our society's infrastructure and are undergoing a digital transformation. We shed light on how AI affects different groups' tasks, skill requirements, work environment, wages and productivity - in short, what key factors can help workers and employers thrive in tomorrow's world of work.
Alexander Husebye	Center for Business History	Olof A. Söderberg-a biography	Economy	2023	Amount granted: SEK 296 800 The Center for Business History is applying for an additional grant to cover costs incurred for the completion of the book project Olle Söderberg - handelsledare, industriman, samhällsbyggare, written by Dr. Benito Peix Geldart. Work on the book was completed in July and then went to press The grant is partly intended to compensate for extended research and editorial work and costs for layout and printing that arose during the earlier stages of the book and partly to cover costs not yet incurred for various activities in connection with the launch in the fall of 2023. In the run-up to the launch of the book, a number of activities are being carried out: - Presentation of the book at the Researchers' Square at the Göteborg Book Fair - Launch of the book at the Stockholm School of Economics - Production of a studio program, partly for Axess TV, partly for CfN's own channels The author will also present the book at a conference in Oslo in The European Business History Association in August 2023.
Henrik Horn	Institute for Business Research	Investment protection agreements in times of increased security tensions	Economy	2023	Amount granted: SEK 491 500 A significant share of global investment is covered by intergovernmental investment protection agreements. The agreements have been criticized on a number of points. Among other things, it is argued that the agreements slow down the phasing out of fossil fuel production systems. The changing geopolitical situation in recent years has added a new dimension to these agreements by emphasizing protection against, rather than protection of, inward international investment. One example is the EU's pursuit of 'strategic autonomy' and increasingly far-reaching demands that foreign investment not be allowed in sensitive sectors. The dispute between Huawei and Sweden over the exclusion from the 5G auction, which is being conducted under the China-Sweden agreement, illustrates the security policy aspects of these agreements. This sub-project will shed light on exclusion clauses for security policy measures in investment protection agreements. Although national security and climate concerns are politically separate issues, both types of concerns affect the value of agreements in a similar way. Both can be seen as exogenous shocks that reduce host countries' gains from the agreements, and escape clauses can be seen as ways to allocate risk. Nevertheless, from an economic point of view, are there reasons to design national security escape clauses differently from corresponding clauses for climate action? How well does the existence of such clauses correlate with security tensions between countries?
Lars Strannegård	Stockholm School of Economics	Donation to the Chair in Young Leadership on the occasion of HM the King's 50 years on the throne	Economy	2023	Amount granted: SEK 1 670 000 The Torsten Söderberg Foundation, the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation and PO Söderberg have jointly decided to donate SEK 5 million to a professorship at the Stockholm School of Economics to shed light on young leadership on the occasion of HM the King's 50th year on the throne. Through this new internationally advertised professorship at the Stockholm School of Economics, the parties wish to celebrate the 50th anniversary of HM the King's accession to the throne and to support the academic highlighting of young leadership at the School.
Jan Marton	University of Gothenburg	Accounting in private companies - regulation that helps or hinders growth	Economy	2022	Amount granted: SEK 1 679 200 Currently, the economy in Sweden and other countries is undergoing major changes, driven for example by increased digitalization and increased demands for sustainability. Both economists and politicians point to the importance of start-ups in dealing with this change, as they are more likely to adopt completely new business models than more mature companies. An important aspect of facilitating the start-up and growth of new businesses is their access to finance, which requires high-quality accounting, which is often costly to produce. At the same time, simplification is highlighted as a way to promote new businesses, which means, among other things, having lower accounting requirements. The two conflicting requirements create a tension that requires balancing in regulation. At present, legislators and regulators have limited scientific support for how the balance should be made and the project provides a basis for how it can be done in an optimal way. Through access to unique Swedish data for unlisted companies, the project examines the effects of smaller companies' accounting choices. More specifically, it examines whether simplified accounting leads to worse or better opportunities for growth. Through a quantitative survey of all unlisted companies, comprehensive knowledge of the companies' own assessments of how accounting should be designed is obtained. This provides the basis for statements on how accounting regulation should be designed to support the creation and growth of new businesses.
Louise Cormack	Lund University	Health inequalities from a life course perspective	Economy		Amount granted: SEK 485 000 In the 20th century, public health in the western world has improved enormously and life expectancy at birth is now several decades higher than 100 years ago. However, these improvements have not benefited everyone equally. In Sweden, a socio-economic gradient in infant mortality has existed since the turn of the century and in adult mortality since the mid-20th century. The gradient implies lowest mortality among those with high socioeconomic status and highest mortality among those with low socioeconomic status. Although research has found long-term socioeconomic and health-related effects of early life circumstances, inequalities in adult mortality have not been fully linked to factors at earlier ages. The aim of this project is to examine how health inequalities in early life persist into older ages and what factors influence health inequalities across the life course. Economic, health-related and demographic factors will be analyzed. Longitudinal, historical population data on individuals living in Landskrona and five neighboring parishes between 1905-1967, linked to modern population registers, will be used to study the life course of individuals throughout the 20th century. The project contributes theoretically and methodologically to existing research, but is also policy relevant as it can inform which interventions reduce health inequalities and when they have the greatest impact.
Farrukh Javed	Lund University	State-of-the-art GDP forecasting during economic crises using machine learning methods	Economy	2022	Amount granted: SEK 1 696 000 The war in Ukraine and the global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the importance of real-time assessments of the macroeconomic situation as a basis for conducting appropriate stabilization policies. However, this is a challenging task, with a major complicating factor being the lagged publication of key economic variables. In order to facilitate economic decision-makers, there has been an increased focus on producing faster statistics that better reflect the current state of the economy in order to improve the decision-making basis for stabilization policy. An important method for this is current forecasting of key variables such as gross domestic product (GDP), which is currently carried out regularly by various forecasting institutes such as the National Institute of Economic Research. Our contribution to the growing interest in baseline forecasting is to incorporate methods from the machine learning literature. These have advantages over previously used methods because they can handle large data sets and model non-linear relationships between economic variables. This project aims to evaluate and further develop these methods. The evaluation is carried out through simulation methods and applications where Swedish GDP is forecast at present. The aim is to improve the NIER's current GDP forecasting methods. Our focus is thus on a small open economy, which will characterize the design of the simulation study.
Erik Liss	Linköping University	Peer effects and the urban-rural education gap	Economy	2022	Amount granted: SEK 787 500 A large and growing gap in educational outcomes between urban and rural areas has emerged, with major implications for the future of rural students. However, previous research has not investigated the causes of this gap. We examine whether and how 'peer effects' can explain this educational gap, and the implications for students from different social backgrounds. Peer effects mean that school students influence each other, positively through e.g. engagement in school work or helping each other, or negatively through e.g. messiness, bullying and fewer role models in the classroom. However, empirical research on peer effects in Swedish schools is still limited, despite its relevance in research, education policy and public debate. We use extensive register data on students, parents, school classes, teachers and schools in all schools since 1987 to study how classmates in the grade or school class affect students' grades, upper secondary school choices, and whether they go to university, and how this differs between urban and rural areas. To isolate the causal impact of peer effects on grade outcomes and future study choices, we use sibling comparisons and instruments for the parental background of peers.
Anders Billström	University of Skövde	Entrepreneurial resilience of SMEs in the face of multiple crises	Economy	2022	Amount granted: SEK 2 123 000 Swedish and international companies are in a unique situation of managing multiple crises simultaneously. Companies are working to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, while also trying to deal with the war in Ukraine, inflation and the start of the recession. This means that companies do not have time to recover between crises, putting many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at risk of not surviving. The ability to cope with crises in small businesses is called entrepreneurial resilience (ER) and consists of internal factors within the firm such as the personality, experience and capabilities of the entrepreneur, and external factors outside the firm such as the availability of resources and support. Research is limited because it often focuses on the management of single crises after they have happened. The aim of the project is therefore to develop knowledge about ER in SMEs when dealing with multiple crises. The project intends to develop and test a conceptual framework of factors affecting ER (the entrepreneur, the firm and the environment) and showing the effects of ER (survival, merger and bankruptcy). The project intends to conduct a literature study, interview study and survey study. The project deepens and broadens an ongoing project where ER in SMEs in Skaraborg is studied during the Corona pandemic. This is done by investigating ER during several added crises in SMEs throughout Västra Götaland and Halland.
Sune Karlsson	Örebro University	Improving economic policy and forecasting with high-frequency data	Economy	2022	Amount granted: SEK 1 047 000 If a balanced stabilization policy is to be conducted, a well updated basis for decision-making is required in the form of current assessments and forecasts. This is particularly important when major shocks hit the economy and stabilization policy is expected to play a greater role than normal. However, a large proportion of the models used by policy makers today do not meet this requirement as they are based on data observed at low frequencies, often quarterly. This project therefore aims to analyze whether "mixed frequency" models, i.e. models that use high frequency information to model low frequency series such as GDP, can contribute to better macroeconomic situation assessments and forecasts.
Therese Nordlund Edvinsson	Uppsala University	Outside the boardroom - succession practices 1890-90	Economy	2021	Amount granted: SEK 930 000 The purpose of this continuation grant is to investigate succession practices in a number of Swedish business families during the period 1890-1990. Previous research has often emphasized the importance of examining succession processes from a gender perspective. The project aims to study how, why and in what way sons are often chosen over daughters as leaders in family businesses. The study is of relevance as Sweden is often seen as a pioneer in gender equality, but has at the same time struggled with gender imbalance in business. The project consists of two case studies, the first of which examines how families chose successors and how succession practices were coordinated within the family. Women often played key roles, but fathers also planned the upbringing of their children. When and how did it become possible for a female family member to enter the boardroom? The second case study examines those children who were not considered suitable as successors in the family business. Were older siblings always given priority over younger ones? For example, what happened to younger siblings, could they take subordinate positions in the business? What happened when sons-in-law were brought into the family business, could they replace the roles of daughters? Microhistorical and biographical methods are used to examine and compare archived material on three family dynasties. Complementary material from newspapers and interviews is also used. The project aims to provide new knowledge about why gender structures can be difficult to change over time in large family businesses.
Alexander Husebye	The Center for Business History Association	Olof A. Söderberg - a biography	Economy	2021	Amount granted: SEK 490 875 This project aims to produce a biography of the entrepreneur and consul general Olof Söderberg through extensive archival research. We see the project as urgent to highlight one of the key figures in an important phase of Sweden's modernization, and thereby make a significant contribution to business history research. The current application constitutes a supplement to complete the production of the book in 2022.
Paula Roth	The Institute for Business Research Foundation	Causes and consequences of over-indebtedness	Economy	2021	Amount granted: SEK 865 000 In Sweden, more than 400,000 individuals are registered with the Swedish Enforcement Authority for debt collection. The authority receives over one million applications for unpaid debts annually. In the first half of 2020, in connection with the outbreak of the pandemic, the number of applications increased by 26 percent compared to the same period the year before, and the total amount of debt also increased steadily. Despite the relatively high prevalence in the population, knowledge of the causes and consequences of over-indebtedness is low. The studies that do exist are mostly based on interviews or survey responses and lack strategies to identify causal outcomes. Most studies focus on the relationship between over-indebtedness and health. Results show, among other things, that over-indebted people are more likely to suffer from depression and chronic illness. The reason for the negative health effects is said to be the increased stress and stigma associated with over-indebtedness. In Sweden, the unique availability of individual data from the Swedish Enforcement Authority enables a systematic study of the effects of over-indebtedness. The research project aims to answer the following questions: (1) Why do individuals become over-indebted? (2) What are the social costs of the large number of over-indebted people in Sweden? By looking at individuals with debt and following their health and labor market outcomes, we can evaluate the negative effects of over-indebtedness. We will also look at whether over-indebtedness increases the risk of crime.
Magnus Lodefalk	Örebro University	Key factors behind AI's labor market impact	Economy	2021	Amount granted: SEK 1 358 250 Artificial intelligence (AI) has made great strides and is expected to fundamentally reshape the labor market. However, in the absence of longitudinal micro data on firms and workers, research on the effects of AI is somewhat contradictory, showing associations rather than causal links between AI and, for example, employment. In this data-driven project, we break new ground. We focus on key factors behind the labor market effects of AI for the knowledge-intensive service sector. We study firms' and employees' exposure and adaptation to different types of AI in four selected countries over two decades, using methods from economics and computer science and a unique micro-level data set. We measure the development and adoption of AI. We then describe and identify general and specific effects of AI in the short and long term. The goal is to contribute with solid knowledge about how different groups of knowledge-intensive service companies and employees are affected by AI. This is needed to enable politicians, authorities, companies and employees to make informed, balanced and future-oriented decisions. Knowledge-intensive services are central to the infrastructure of our modern society and are undergoing a digital transformation thanks to advances in AI. We highlight how AI affects labor demand, job content, skills offered/demanded, and income - in short, what are the key factors that can help workers and employers thrive in tomorrow's world of work.
Therese Nilsson	The Institute for Business Research Foundation	The role of cultural norms in migrant work and enterprise development	Economy	2021	Amount granted: SEK 991 000 The proportion of foreign-born people in Sweden has increased in recent decades and now accounts for 20% of the population. Immigration poses new challenges and opportunities for society and the labor market. We study how immigrants, from different countries with different cultural characteristics, manage in and affect the Swedish labor market from two perspectives. We study how cultural factors affect immigrants' labor market integration, focusing on the effects of coming from cultures with different degrees of tolerance, trust, religiosity and individualism. We also study how the multicultural composition of the workforce affects the functioning, profitability and personnel growth of firms. We know little about these relationships in general, but the conditions for a better understanding are good. We have access to a unique longitudinal company database that is linked to individual data on employees. An additional strength is that we can link indicators of cultural factors and attitudes in immigrants' background countries to individual outcomes. This avoids problems of reverse causality. Our project is based on a real problem: weak labor market integration among foreign-born individuals. The project adds new policy-relevant knowledge that complements previous research. The project provides a basis for designing policies for a more inclusive and equal society, but also insights into the importance of culture for the functioning of the economy.
Hans Kjellberg	Stockholm School of Economics	The market society of the future	Economy	2021	Amount granted: SEK 1 040 000 The post-war open market-based society is today facing significant changes. Long-term societal challenges such as climate change, geopolitical changes and the ongoing digitalization create both opportunities and challenges, while sudden shocks such as the ongoing pandemic or the global financial crisis put today's market society to the test. Within the framework of a larger research program that aims to generate new knowledge, understanding and capacity for strategic action to build a long-term sustainable future market society, this project finances four doctoral students' dissertations. Two of these are already defined and deal with how political considerations can influence individual consumers' consumption behavior, and how consumers' returns of goods can be reduced in digital commerce. The other two PhD students will be recruited in 2022 to one of the three research themes of the overall program: (1) The emergence of the platform economy: the new global intermediaries and the market society they build; (2) The transformation of the market society: strategies for digital and sustainable market ecosystems; and (3) The future of marketing: strategic marketing in a world of influencers, nudges and algorithms.
Henrik Horn	The Institute for Business Research Foundation	Investment protection agreements in times of intensified climate policies	Economy	2021	Amount granted: 860 000 SEK A significant proportion of global investment flows are covered by intergovernmental investment protection agreements. These agreements have been criticized on a number of points. Recently, their climate impact has been questioned in particular. It is argued that investment protection agreements slow down the transition to a climate sustainable economy by locking economies into existing production systems, in particular by making the phase-out of stranded assets more expensive. Economic research on the agreements is still very limited. The overall purpose of this project is therefore to initiate research on the design and effects of the agreements from a climate perspective. The project consists of two parts, both at the intersection of economics and law. A highly criticized aspect of the agreements is that they allow private investors to bring disputes against host countries (ISDS). A sub-project will identify the advantages and disadvantages for the parties to the agreements of allowing such a right of action in disputes concerning climate-related measures by host countries. The concept of investors' "legitimate expectations" plays a central role in arbitration of investment treaty disputes, and can be expected to do so in future climate-related disputes. However, there are different legal views on what is meant by the concept. The second subproject will analyze the role of expectations in climate action disputes from an economic perspective.
Michael Klug	Stockholm School of Economics	Do active funds extract profits at the expense of passive investors?	Economy	2021	Amount granted: SEK 75 000 Passive investments are steadily gaining in popularity. Passive funds replicate an index and thus aim to reap a market risk premium. Active management instead allows fund managers to pursue multiple strategies that aim to achieve superior performance compared to a passive benchmark. However, these strategies usually require more trading as well as skill. Fund managers are compensated for their skill as well as for trading costs. On the one hand, active fund managers as a group underperform the market and, according to some research, investors should only invest passively. On the other hand, active fund managers may have superior information or skill that they use to their clients' advantage. The project will examine trading related to index component changes to identify whether active fund managers exploit limited passive investors. First, we aim to identify and characterize the subset of active funds that follow a potentially simple index reconstruction strategy that is not feasible for limited passive fund managers. Next, we want to calculate the costs that passive funds incur as a result of the active funds' strategy. After establishing that active fund managers benefit from exploiting passive investors in the same benchmark, we ask whether and to what extent active fund managers show skill in using this strategy.
Mia Kuritzén Löwengart	Uppsala University	Jewish economic activity and the transformation of Stockholm into a modern capital city	Economy	2020	Amount granted: SEK 1 635 000 The overall aim of the project is to study the participation of Jews in the creation of the Swedish national identity. The economic activities of Swedish Jews are analyzed with a particular focus on the capital's public institutions, social networks and cultural identity. In 1870, Sweden's Jews received full civil rights, enabling them to contribute to the development of the capital. By examining Jewish donors and their contribution to the emergence of public institutions in Stockholm from 1870 to 1930, as well as the social networks involved in the process, the project joins international research that has placed economic issues at the center of Jewish cultural studies, and that perceives economic activity as a conceptual entry point to understanding Jewish identity. Using a hermeneutic approach, biographical and architectural methods and network analysis, as well as spatial theory, according to which physical manifestations in urban space reflect individual ideals, the project analyzes the role of Swedish Jews in the creation of Stockholm's modern institutions and understands the importance of Swedishness for contemporary Jewish identity. The project analyzes five public institutions and their buildings, constructed between 1878 and 1928: Stockholm University, the Nordic Museum, City Hall, the Stockholm School of Economics and the Stockholm City Library. The buildings became contemporary topographical symbols of Stockholm's development into a modern capital and the cultural development of the nation.
Hedvig Widmalm	Uppsala University	Women and alcohol in the Age of Liberty, 1718-1775	Economy	2020	Amount granted: SEK 942 000 In the 18th century, it was common for women to earn a living as innkeepers. Brewing beer and distilling spirits for domestic use were women's activities, linked to cooking. However, brewing, distilling and selling alcohol became highly regulated in the 18th century. Mainly, brandy was regulated. Distillation for private use was banned three times during the period 1718-1775, and a new duty was established for the import of spirits into the cities in 1731. Crown distilleries were established in 1775. The aim of the project is to investigate how these regulations affected women's ability to earn a living by selling alcohol, legally and illegally. The method to investigate this is to use court book material from the periods when new regulations were introduced. The main questions are: how were the regulations discussed? What economic issues did they raise? How were the women who sold alcohol viewed, and who were the customers? A comparison over time can show an interplay between how and why regulations were introduced, and how the people affected responded to them. This project examines three cities: Falun, Uppsala and Karlskrona, all of which were dominated by large organizations such as the copper mine, the university and the navy. A further aim of the study is to see how the gender segregation that emerged in Falun, Uppsala and Karlskrona affected and was affected by alcohol sales and regulations. This will be a way to analyze gender segregation more generally, and to compare with other countries and other eras.
Hans Seerar Westerberg	Trade Research Institute	Are employer contribution reductions absorbed by wage increases?	Economy	2020	Amount granted: SEK 330 000 The recent high levels of immigration and youth unemployment mean that Europe in general, and Sweden in particular, face very significant labor market policy challenges. In this context, the retail sector is important as it represents a potential entry point for marginalized individuals who have not yet gained a foothold in the labour market. It is therefore of great importance to increase the understanding of the impact of various labor market reforms and how they affect the intended beneficiaries of the reform. An often overlooked possibility is that labor market reforms affect individuals who do not belong to the reform's target group, which in turn has consequences for the effectiveness of the reform. The purpose of this project is to study the previously overlooked effects of the reduction in employer's contributions for young people in 2007 by analyzing the wage development of the already established workforce in the retail trade. Unlike previous studies, the data material allows an analysis of various wage components and the number of hours worked for full-time individuals who were employed before the reform, i.e. individuals who were not intended to be affected by the reform. The project thus contributes new knowledge about the underlying adjustment mechanisms that affect the effectiveness of reforms aimed at reducing the labor costs of entrepreneurs.
Matilda Orth	Institute for Business Research, IFN	Competition and uncertainty in healthcare: the Swedish pharmacy market	Economy	2020	Amount granted: SEK 1 130 000 Access to medicines affects all people in society and is important for achieving good health and quality of life. All individuals need to have access to a wide range of good quality medicines at good prices within a reasonable distance. Although the supply of medicines is the subject of lively debates both in Sweden and internationally - not least in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic - there is a lack of knowledge about the functioning of the pharmacy market. The purpose and goal of this research project is to study competition under uncertainty in the Swedish pharmacy market after the re-regulation in 2009. The project contributes to the international research front in economics and econometrics. We develop analytical tools that are applied to unique and large data sets for all Swedish pharmacies and their products and employees. We analyze consumer behavior and competition between pharmacies over time in different regions. An advantage is that the methodological approach together with detailed data makes it possible to adequately evaluate changes in the market due to, among other things, new establishments and subsidies to pharmacies in sparsely populated areas. For example, we answer: How do product ranges, prices and availability change in the short and long term? Are there regional differences? The researchers are based in the US, Belgium and Sweden. Well-established communication channels are used to disseminate results to policy makers and the public.
Thomas Tangerås	Institute for Business Research, IFN	New tools to analyze markets with imperfect competition	Economy	2020	Amount granted: SEK 1 170 000 In markets with imperfect competition, firms can use their size to charge excessive prices. The use of market power leads to inefficiencies as some people refrain from buying because the product is too expensive and to redistribution from consumers to firms as those who do buy pay too much. Economic analysis of how well competition works in different markets is therefore essential to determine whether public intervention, such as competition law or direct price regulation, is appropriate. Existing methods for estimating competition have significant weaknesses as they are sensitive to assumptions that need to be made about unobservable demand and cost conditions. This project will develop a method for estimating the degree of competition in different markets that is based only on observable conditions and therefore provides more reliable estimates of market competition. The project will then apply these methods to evaluate the extent to which firms exercise market power in the electricity market. In particular, the project will evaluate the pockets of local market power that sometimes arise due to bottlenecks in the electricity network. Such local market power can lead to consumers paying too much for their electricity in some parts of the country, but not in others, and has not really been investigated.
Joachim Tåg	Institute for Business Research, IFN	Companies and employees in a changing labour market	Economy	2020	Amount granted: SEK 1 845 000 In recent decades, the Swedish labour market has undergone extensive structural changes as a result of technological developments that have driven digitization and globalization processes. In parallel, there have been major changes in the ownership structure of Swedish companies: foreign ownership has increased, state and municipal companies have been privatized, venture capital ownership has become a common form of ownership, and entrepreneurship has become a prominent feature of the modern economy. Digitalization, ownership changes and globalization have all had major consequences for the way the labour market works today. The purpose of this project is to analyze how these different structural changes have affected different types of employees, entrepreneurs and firms in Sweden over the past decades. Specific questions we seek answers to include how digitalization, ownership changes, and globalization have affected wages, wage dispersion, work environment, and the risk of employees losing their jobs; how the allocation of talent in the Swedish business sector has been affected; and what determinants guide decisions to start new successful firms and what characterizes successful careers in the Swedish labor market. These questions will be addressed through empirical analyses using extensive register-based information on the Swedish labor force linked to firm and owner data for the period 1990-2015.
Rickard Sandberg	Stockholm School of Economics	Retail data ("Big Data") and predictive analytics	Economy	2020	Amount granted: SEK 1 860 000 Today, most retail companies have access to very large amounts of data - so-called 'Big Data'. This data can consist of e.g. customer, product, transaction, sales channel, geospatial, text and image data (observed over time). The interest in Big Data among retailers is huge for obvious reasons, and with adequate analytics, e.g. consumer behavior can be predicted. However, there are significant gaps in both theory and methodology, among both users and researchers, regarding retail data and predictive analytics. In fact, much of the information value of Big Data is not utilized, and often one simply does not know what to do with all the data. Predictive analytics based on Big Data also faces additional challenges with the upcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] and how data may be used de facto in the future. The need for research on how theory and method can be combined to extract the informational value of Big Data, under GDPR, is thus extremely urgent. In an effort to address this need, an interdisciplinary project has been initiated at the Stockholm School of Economics, where leading researchers from the Center for Retailing [CFR] and the Center for Economic Statistics [CES] collaborate. The project is unique in the sense that access to Big Data is provided by leading retail companies in Sweden. The project team also includes two PhD students.
Norrgren, Lisa	University of Gothenburg	Time preferences and medication adherence among Swedish HIV patients	Economy	2019	Amount granted: SEK 235 000 People have different preferences. Our preferences are part of our personality and allow us to be similar or different from other people. Time preferences determine how the individual values the benefits of something now, in relation to the future. Empirically, it has been found that impatient people are more likely to regularly smoke cigarettes (Harrison et al., 2018) and exercise less (Leonard and Shuval, 2017). Researchers have also identified a causal relationship between a high discount rate (impatience) and the likelihood that a person has an excessive BMI (Courtemanche et al., 2014). This study aims to investigate the relationship between time preferences and adherence to medical treatment. The regularity with which patients take their medication is crucial for the successful treatment of many diseases. Our goal is to measure time preferences in Swedish HIV patients. The information will then be linked to the InfCare HIV database, which collects virus and immune system information from patients. Using our collected data, we will then investigate the relationship between how often patients miss taking their medication, their actual disease outcome and their time preferences. This relationship can be used to provide further support for doctors to screen HIV patients who are not taking their medication - before virus levels start to rise. Finding and quantifying early risk markers for these patients is important to ensure patient health and reduce negative effects on others.
Andersson, Ola	Uppsala University	Can falling auction prices be explained by preferences and auction formats?	Economy	2019	Amount granted: SEK 2 182 000 Using auctions to allocate goods and services is a common practice. Its popularity is understandable as auctions are often an efficient way to allocate goods to those with the highest willingness to pay. For example, one sixth of Sweden's GDP was allocated through public procurement auctions in 2017. In many of these auctions, several identical or similar goods are to be auctioned and it is common to do this sequentially. For example, this format is used to sell flowers, timber, wine and school milk and paving contracts but also by online auction houses (e.g. eBay and Tradera). In a sequential auction, goods should have the same price. For example, if there are lower prices in later auctions, it is worth waiting to buy. This prediction has been rejected in several studies that found lower prices in later auctions. The deposits constitute an anomaly called the "afternoon effect" and require further studies to clarify. The overall aim of this project is to investigate both empirically and experimentally what can explain declining price trends in sequential auctions. A first step is to understand how bidders' preferences can explain negative price trends. We also aim to understand how the auction format can explain the anomaly.
Wengström, Erik	Lund University	Education, social preferences and the gender pay gap	Economy	2019	Amount awarded: SEK 3 130 000 Most of the gender pay gap is driven by men and women working in different occupations and sectors. A key factor in the gender segregation of the labor market is the educational choices of young men and women. Women tend to choose courses that lead to lower salaries, for example in health sciences, humanities and social sciences. This is while men are more likely to opt for science and technology courses that lead to higher-paying jobs. Why do women choose education and training courses that offer fewer opportunities for good career and salary development than men do? One possible explanation is that women's and men's social preferences differ and that women find it more important to be able to help others and contribute to a better society through their profession. Although this explanation is often highlighted in the media and in political contexts, no one has tried to test its relevance using scientific methods. We aim to fill this knowledge gap by answering three research questions. To what extent are educational and occupational choices influenced by people's desire to contribute to society and help others? Do women attach more importance to this social dimension when making their educational and career choices than men? How much of the gender gap in education, career and pay can be explained by such a preference difference? The project will answer these questions using a combination of experiments, surveys and register data.
Andersson, Magnus	University of Gothenburg	Early banking in Sweden 1850-1920, phase 3	Economy	2019	Amount granted: 108 500 SEK The purpose of the study is to show the importance of the emerging banks in Sweden and their actors in the transition from merchant capitalist to industrial capitalist financing starting around 1850. The size and expansion of lending can be estimated, among other things, by studying the bank inspectors' assessments of different banks over time. The archive material makes it possible to carefully follow and analyze the banks' activities over long periods of time. This includes each bank's assets, liabilities and credit portfolios. The development of the borrowing companies was thus closely followed. In a first sub-study, I study the conditions in Gothenburg in particular, as a natural continuation of my previous studies in the area of credit, with trading houses at the forefront. Previously, trading houses and other informal actors had to a large extent handled the granting of credit and the mediation of goods and other services. A second sub-study examines the importance of the domestic exchange rate for banks' credit expansion. A third sub-study examines the three largest and most important banks for Sweden's industrial development during the period, Svenska Handelsbanken Stockholms Enskilda Bank and Skandinaviska Kredit AB. A fourth sub-study analyzes the 1907 merger between Skandinaviska Kredit and Skånes Enskilda Bank.
Hagberg, Axel	Stockholm School of Economics, EHFF	Shadow banking in Sweden part 2 - experiences from the early 20th century	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 930 000 The project aims to highlight the Swedish issuing company era and see it in a new light. The intensive period for the Swedish capital market discussed here can be said to have started after the "1901 Banking Committee" presented its proposal for independent industrial publishing banks (in modern parlance, investment banks). The Banking Committee's report was followed by a political debate for almost a decade until 1909 when new legislation in the area was adopted by the Riksdag. No "bank of issue" as intended by the legislators was ever created. Instead, financial market participants preferred to operate in the form of a "limited liability company". This was thus a form of organization outside the current banking supervision. The issuing companies played an important role in creating the Swedish optimism of the 1910s. The deflationary crisis of 1922 brought an abrupt end to the boom period on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, which formed the basis of the companies' activities. Most of the major issuing companies, with a few exceptions, appear to have survived the crisis, but were in decline or changed their business focus. The basic reason for this was that access to capital via the stock market seems to have virtually ceased after 1919 in connection with the economic turnaround. No attempt at a more comprehensive study of the history of issuing companies has ever been presented. It can be concluded that the issuing company era has only been selectively examined, and the overall empirical knowledge is now rather inadequate.
Sandgren, Fredrik	Uppsala University	Innovation and institutional change in Swedish goods trade 1920-2010	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 496 000 The project will analyze the transformation of the Swedish goods trade in the 20th century. The ultimate aim is to write a synthesis of the history of Swedish goods trade from 1750 to the present. The period 1750-1920 already exists in manuscript form. At the center of the analysis is institutional change and important innovations. By institutions I mean legislation, but also the more informal agreements and rules that have influenced trade in goods and its conditions. With regard to innovations, i.e. new technologies and new forms of organization, I will examine how general innovations such as cars, telephones, computers, factories and Taylorism have affected trade in goods. But an important task is also to examine how new ways of conducting goods trade such as fixed stores, department stores, self-service, single-level warehouses, etc. have been introduced and spread within the Swedish goods trade. The major shifts in terms of institutions and innovations that I identify will form the basis for the periodization that is made. Much is known about the history of goods trade. However, much of this knowledge is scattered across many different books and essays and needs to be compiled. But there are also a lot of knowledge gaps that need to be filled by primary research. For the 20th century, it is mainly the early activities of the wholesale trade, the specialist trade and the trade organizations that need to be researched.
Strömsten, Torkel	Stockholm School of Economics, SiR	Graduate School of Accounting - FIRE	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 1 860 000 The Research School in Accounting (FIRE) was initiated in 2015 as a response to the shortage of accounting researchers and teachers reported by the Swedish Association of Graduate Economists (2017). The lack of PhD researchers and teachers in accounting threatens the quality of teaching at universities and colleges and, by extension, the development of Swedish industry. FIRE's overall aim is to ensure and develop the quality of postgraduate education in accounting. We want to make postgraduate education more attractive and act as a network node. FIRE currently has 23 active doctoral students and a strong network between doctoral students and faculty has been established. We want to continue on this path. In 2018 and 2019, the first FIRE doctoral students will graduate. We therefore see a need to support and develop the careers of post-doctoral researchers in accounting as well. We are convinced that FIRE can serve this purpose very well.
Agndal, Henrik	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Management of complex business relationships	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 380 500 One way of understanding complex business relationships is to consider them as consisting of more or less interconnected arenas where companies carry out various activities. These arenas must be controlled, but the ability to control one arena is affected by firms' actions in other arenas, so-called spillover effects. However, research on corporate relationships rarely considers this dynamic and we therefore ask "what strategies do firms use to manage negative and positive spillover effects in complex corporate relationships?". International business relationships are further complicated by the fact that the parties to the relationship are in different institutional contexts. Unconscious as well as active resistance to governance systems perceived as inappropriate in a local context may give rise to the emergence of hybrid forms of governance. Although research on international business has begun to take an interest in hybridization, studies focusing on governance are largely lacking. We therefore ask, "what do hybridization processes (with a focus on governance) look like in the context of complex international business relationships?". We will address these questions through empirical research, mainly in the form of in-depth, complementary interviews within ongoing studies.
Nyberg, Klas	Stockholm University	Fashion, luxury, credit and trust	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 178 000 The project 'Fashion, luxury, credit and trust. From early modern to modern bankruptcy" was funded in 2017 to analyse the importance of the reform of the bankruptcy institution 1767-1830 for the modernization of the pre-industrial credit market. In 2018, the researchers wrote their papers and the project was presented at two international conferences. The project organized a well-attended session at ESSHC in Belfast and was invited to participate with a paper on the project at the two-day symposium "Wealth and Debt Accumulation in Informal Financial Markets. A Marcus Wallenberg Symposium". This was attended by a number of specialists in this current area of research. Two additional contributors have been recruited: doctoral student Mia Skott, who already has her own funding from the Foundation and who is contributing another chapter to the anthology on the conditions in Stockholm regarding wallpaper makers. Dr. Riina Turunen and Professor Kustaa H. J. Vilkuna at the University of Helsinki. J. Vilkuna at the University of Jyväskylä who contributes a study on wigmakers, also funded.
Tåg, Joacim	Institute for Business Research	Companies and employees in a changing labour market	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 1 972 500 In recent decades, the Swedish labour market has undergone extensive structural changes as a result of technological developments that have driven digitization and globalization processes. In parallel, there have been major changes in the ownership structure of Swedish companies: foreign ownership has increased, state and municipal companies have been privatized, venture capital ownership has become a common form of ownership, and entrepreneurship has become a significant feature of the modern economy. Digitalization, ownership changes and globalization have all had major consequences for the way the labour market works today. The aim of this project is to analyze how these structural changes have affected different types of employees, entrepreneurs and firms in Sweden over the past decades. Specific questions we seek answers to include how digitalization, ownership changes and globalization have affected wages, wage dispersion, work environment and the risk of employees losing their jobs; how the allocation of talent in the Swedish business sector has been affected; and what determines decisions to start new businesses and what characterizes successful careers in the Swedish labor market. These questions will be addressed through empirical analyses using extensive register-based information on the Swedish labor force linked to firm and owner data for the period 1990-2015.
Ek, Claes	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	The benefit of temptation? Self-control, self-confidence and financial choices	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 282 500 People sometimes choose to voluntarily limit their scope of action in order to better resist immediate temptations that conflict with long-term goals. For example, many people are willing to open a savings account with limited withdrawals in order to commit to increased savings. The use of such tools is often actively encouraged to improve people's personal finances or health, for example. However, there is a lack of research on whether the tools can also be overused, which can be expected to happen if a person underestimates their own willpower or overestimates the strength of the temptation. It may also be beneficial to expose oneself to temptations if successful resistance to them strengthens belief in one's own willpower and leads to an increased ability to resist other temptations in the future. The project consists of two laboratory experiments. The first examines whether participants' willingness to pay to avoid a tempting situation accurately reflects the loss incurred when they are actually exposed to the temptation. The second experiment studies whether resisting temptation in an initial situation gives rise to stronger resilience at a later stage, for example by making the outcome in the initial situation a signal of one's own willpower. Both experiments will generate knowledge about the potential benefits of being exposed to temptation and have implications for the extent to which restrictions on people's choices are justified in society.
Rovira Nordman, Emilia	Stockholm School of Economics, SIR	"It's a retail revolution": The international challenges of digitalization	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 2 152 000 Despite the fact that Sweden has long provided a breeding ground for global success concepts such as H&M and IKEA, we find that today's Swedish retailers are experiencing difficulties in scaling up their operations internationally. Our preliminary studies show that e-commerce can be an underutilized factor for creating international growth among small firms because it is rarely conducted efficiently or clearly strategically anchored. This project aims to investigate how smaller retail companies can develop their sales channels and create international growth through e-commerce. Reaching out to foreign customers in a way that is both efficient and creates customer value is important for the long-term survival of Swedish retail companies. By continuing to build on the databases that we have created within the framework of our ongoing project, we will in the continuation project collect data that specifically reflects Swedish retail companies' international e-commerce. This data enables clearer comparisons between companies that have managed the structural transformation towards e-commerce better with companies that have managed it worse. The project can thus contribute with new insights on how a smaller company should act to succeed with its digitalization strategy and thus increase its international growth. The ambition of the project is to both contribute to the international research front and to generate new and useful knowledge for practitioners in the retail industry.
Husebye, Alexander	The Center for Business History Association	Olle Söderberg - a biography	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 1 766 929 This project aims to portray, through two biographies, the Söderberg family's journey from entrepreneurship to philanthropy during the late 19th and much of the 20th century. The project includes research, listing and digitization of archival material located in a number of different places, but also the establishment of a closed family history website as a resource for future research and knowledge transfer. Two biographical volumes, published by Förlaget Näringslivshistoria, will be produced. The project builds on an ongoing archive and book project on the life and work of Pelle Söderberg (1836-1881). The intention is to build on this knowledge base with a biography of his son, the entrepreneur and consul general Olof Söderberg (1872-1931). We see the project as an important task to document and analyze some of the key figures in an important phase of Sweden's modernization, and thereby make a significant contribution to business history research.
Bos, Marieke	Stockholm School of Economics, SHoF	Financial Economics: 'Markets, firms and information flows'	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 350 000 The Swedish House of Finance organizes an annual conference on a theme in financial economics. This year's theme is "information flows between financial markets and firms". The conference is based on a dialogue between academic economists and representatives from the financial industry. We intend to address the following three major issues: How much do corporate decision-makers learn about the prices and quantities they observe in financial markets, and how valuable is this information? Has the flow of information from markets to firms changed over time, e.g. through an increased use of passive management and index products? How important are company strategies and structure for investment decisions? Do e.g. hedge funds and pension managers use such characteristics for investment, and do classical valuation variables (such as size, profitability and value) capture the underlying corporate strategy of companies? Business managers often use a discount rate (e.g. CAPM) to determine the cost of equity. A large literature has documented the CAPM's limited ability to explain real expected returns. What are the real-world consequences of policy makers using an outdated valuation model? How should companies best determine the cost of equity?
Andersson, Magnus	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Early banking in Sweden 1850-1920, phase 2	Economy	2018	Amount granted: SEK 930 000 The purpose of the study is to show the importance of the emerging banks in Sweden and their actors in the transition from merchant capitalist to industrial capitalist financing starting around 1850. The size and expansion of lending can be estimated, among other things, by studying the bank inspectors' assessments of different banks over time. The archive material makes it possible to carefully follow and analyze the banks' activities over long periods of time. This includes each bank's assets, liabilities and credit portfolios. The development of the borrowing companies was thus closely followed. In a first sub-study, I study the conditions in Gothenburg in particular, as a natural continuation of my previous studies in the area of credit, with trading houses at the forefront. Previously, trading houses and other informal actors had largely dealt with the granting of credit and the mediation of goods and other services. A second sub-study examines the importance of the domestic exchange rate for banks' credit expansion. A third sub-study examines the three largest and most important banks for Sweden's industrial development during the period, Svenska Handelsbanken Stockholms Enskilda Bank and Skandinaviska Kredit AB. A fourth sub-study analyzes the 1907 merger between Skandinaviska Kredit and Skånes Enskilda Bank.
Åkerman, Anders	Stockholm University	The impact of the internet on productivity, labour markets and globalization	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 885 000 One of the biggest questions of our time is how accelerating technological developments are affecting the way our economies work. The internet, the 'third industrial revolution', is fundamentally changing the way modern economies work and the project focuses on this. The first part looks at how labour markets are being affected and the fact that information technology is seen as particularly beneficial to highly educated workers. In most countries, the income gap between low and highly educated people is widening, but it is difficult to know how much is due to technological change. And what kind of education, experience and other characteristics are required when technology is renewed? The second part of the project looks at the impact on firm productivity and how changes at the firm level affect the development of aggregate productivity in society. The third part examines how globalization is affected by the internet. Will the role of geography in trade diminish with the development of the Internet, leading to the so-called "death of distance"? This application is specifically for a continuation and extension of this project. The first of the three sub-projects has been completed and published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics. This sub-project has also received an important follow-up project focusing on how to empirically measure technological change at the firm level. In addition, the sub-project on international trade has been extended to include a theoretical model and a more structural empirical basis for discussion.
Wahlström, Gunnar	University of Gothenburg	External accounting and corporate relations	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 1 015 000 The project relates to part two of the Part One Foundation funded project "External Accounting and Corporate Relations in the Capital Market". Three collections of data in the form of annual reports, the public debate and interviews show that part of the problem with external accounting is that accounting practice delivers solutions based on "more of the same". No new dimensions are offered. This continuation application intends to create an alternative to the numerical presentation in external accounting from an interdisciplinary point of view. In interviews conducted, management illustrates the use of external accounting with various events or cases. These show that management initiates and motivates actions based on values that create patterns of action. They differ between companies and can thus help to explain the phenomenon that two companies in the same industry can have diametrically different profitability. This project application intends to: 1. Create an alternative to the numerical presentation in external reporting by coding values expressed by managers in interviews already conducted. 2. Complete articles already started in the project.
Strömsten, Torkel	Stockholm School of Economics, SIR	Research School in Accounting - FIRE	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 1 940 000 The accounting profession has been under great pressure for a long time. Several key players such as FAR and the Swedish Association of Chartered Accountants are explicitly talking about a crisis for the subject. The survival of accounting is seriously threatened. Based on these starting points, in 2014 the Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm University and Uppsala University jointly applied for funding (from Handelsbanken's research title and from the Torsten Söderberg Foundation) to establish a graduate school in accounting (FIRE). In 2015 and 2016, FIRE has admitted two cohorts of doctoral students, given three doctoral courses and organized four internal workshops. We now have thirteen active doctoral students within FIRE and a strong network between the doctoral students is being created. Another important effect of FIRE is that the cooperation between teachers and researchers at the universities has been developed and deepened. A third effect is that international researchers are linked to FIRE in various ways. So far, FIRE can be described as a great success. We are now seeking additional funding to develop and strengthen FIRE. As of fall 2017, the Gothenburg School of Economics at the University of Gothenburg will join FIRE.
Sandberg, Rickard	Stockholm School of Economics	Retail data ("Big Data") and predictive analytics	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 1 720 000 Today, most retail companies have access to very large amounts of data - so-called 'Big Data'. This data can consist, for example, of customer, product, transaction, sales channel, geospatial, text and image data (observed over time). The interest in Big Data among retailers is huge for obvious reasons, and with adequate analytical methods, e.g. consumer behavior can be predicted. However, the shortcomings in both theory and methodology, among both users and researchers, regarding retail data and predictive analytics are evident. In fact, much of the information value of Big Data is not utilized, and often people simply do not know what to do with all the data. Predictive analytics based on Big Data also faces additional challenges with the upcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] and how data may de facto be used in the future. The need for research on how theory and method can be combined to extract the informational value of Big Data, under GDPR, is thus extremely urgent. To address this need, an interdisciplinary project has been initiated at the Stockholm School of Economics, where leading researchers from the Center for Retailing [CFR] and the Center for Economic Statistics [CES] collaborate. The project is unique in the sense that access to Big Data is provided by leading retail companies in Sweden. The project team also includes two PhD students.
Rylander Eklund, Anna	University of Gothenburg, GRI	Organizing design and designing organizations for change	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 2 640 000 Design has come to be seen as a strategic competence in an increasing number of large companies, which are investing heavily in the recruitment of designers. It is hoped that the approach and working methods of designers can form the basis of new forms of managing and organizing companies and public activities. However, there is a lack of research that can guide actors seeking to integrate design(s) into organizations to create change. With this project, researchers in the Business & Design Lab want to process and further develop the results of a large number of recently completed international studies that have focused in different ways on the encounter between designers and other professional groups. Overall, our previous studies indicate that it is designers' special values and practices, their aesthetic expertise, that are at the core of their contribution to innovation and change, while at the same time these are an obstacle to achieving radical and sustainable change in other organizational contexts. The project aims to make theoretical and methodological contributions by clarifying how designers' aesthetic expertise contributes to creativity, learning and change, and what organizational conditions are required to be able to leverage this expertise and realize organizational change. This would constitute a strong and much-needed contribution to the field of Design Management and consolidate the Business & Design Lab's position as an internationally leading center for research in the intersection of design and management.
Nyberg, Klas	Stockholm University	Fashion, luxury, credit and trust. From early modern to modern bankruptcies	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 480 500 The project aims to publish a scientific anthology with an international publisher. The anthology analyzes the significance of the reform of the bankruptcy institution 1767-1830 for the modernization of the pre-industrial credit market with the credit market in Stockholm as a case study. An aristocratic lavishness on credit was replaced by merchants' increasingly commercial lending. The results are presented in a Swedish part of the anthology and then compared with contributions from international specialists. They will be recruited at an already accepted session with the name of the project at the social science historians' conference ESSHC in Belfast 2018. The Swedish part of the project has its background in a historical interactive database, www.tidigmodernakonkurser.se of the bankruptcy institute in Stockholm. The project participants have participated in three international anthologies and presented even more papers at symposia and conferences and are part of several research networks in the field. Our latest book was published this spring under the title "Economic Cultural History" (see note in Axess No. 5: 2017). Among other things, we have a range of evidence for the modernization of the bankruptcy institute in Stockholm (streamlining, industry distribution, changes in practice, etc.) which we now intend to compile into a whole and compare with other countries in Europe and North America. One important finding is that state lawyers played an important role in the implementation of the extensive legislation after 1767. Another finding is that conditions differed between industries.
Lapidus, John	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	New funding options for key welfare services	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 663 750 The Swedish welfare model is undergoing changes. This often refers to the extensive operational privatization of central welfare services that began in the early 1990s. But the financing of welfare has also changed to some extent. Among other things, this has taken place via various types of additional services in health care, education and care. At the same time, these additional services are a form of semi-private welfare solutions, as the consumer can reduce the private cost via tax deductions (gross salary deductions for private health insurance, Rut deductions in elderly care and to some extent education). How has increased private and semi-private financing been made possible? What are the consequences for the welfare model in general? Does the design of additional services contribute to relieving or undermining the traditional welfare model? Is there a link between operational privatization and privatization of welfare financing? The purpose of the research project is to study a certain type of change in the Swedish welfare model. First, it is about understanding and analyzing the relatively unexplored relationship between privatized operation and privatized financing of central welfare services. Secondly, it is about understanding and analyzing the social consequences of a welfare model that is increasingly based on privately financed welfare services. Thirdly, it is about being able to say something about where the Swedish welfare model is and where it is heading.
Kjellberg, Hans	Stockholm School of Economics, SIR	The spatial and conceptual domain of markets. A study of Freeport's	Economy	2017	Amount granted: 970 000 SEK This PhD project studies the contemporary phenomenon of Freeports - warehouses located in free trade areas where valuable items are stowed away indefinitely to avoid taxation and identification - and the economic exchanges that take place within and across their borders. The aim of the project is to understand the relationship between the market as an abstraction and a concrete phenomenon. More specifically, the project aims to understand the link between the legal regulation of markets and their material and spatial manifestations. How do actors in markets affect the conceptual framing of the law and how does the law affect the activities that take place in markets? To address these questions, a number of sub-studies of the phenomenon of Freeports are carried out. The project is thus based on a methodological approach in the social sciences that seeks insights through studies of opaque and shady activities, in order to better understand today's society. The project contributes with new knowledge about the organization of regulated markets, by highlighting the interaction between the legal and material dimensions and by paying attention to the political and economic reasons for actors to act outside the usual social structures.
Häckner, Jonas	Stockholm University	Expanding guest researcher and seminar activities	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 150 000 In order to make better use of our international contacts, we hereby apply for a grant for our guest researcher and seminar activities in 2018.
Husebye, Alexander	Center for Business History	Pelle Söderberg - a biography	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 1 545 643 The Centre for Business History is conducting a book project where the life of Per Olof (Pelle) Söderberg (1836-1881) is told and highlighted in its industrial history context. The purpose of the project is to document and tell Per Olof Söderberg's biography based on new research. He is one of several successful entrepreneurs who shaped the Swedish business community in the 19th century, as well as a leading figure in the Söderberg family and one of Sweden's first commercial agents at the national level. The project also aims to fill a gap - Sweden's economic development in the 19th century has been studied from a number of perspectives, but biographies of individual entrepreneurs, in which the role of individuals is analyzed in a larger historical context, are all the more rare. The project is divided into two stages, the first of which is research focusing on a number of primary sources, identified within the framework of a research preparation project in 2017 with the support of the Torsten Söderberg Foundation. These sources (private material, public archives, various utility archives, newspaper material, etc.) have largely not been analyzed before. In connection with the research work, text production takes place. The second stage of the project is book production with editorial work, image research, layout and printing. During the project, two seminars will be organized with representatives of CfN and other stakeholders to evaluate sources and manuscripts. The book about Pelle Söderberg will be published by Förlaget Näringslivshistoria and will be presented at the Gothenburg Book Fair in 2019.
Hardardottir, Hjördis	Lund University	Everyday stress and its effect on time perception and time preferences	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 56 250 The study investigates whether everyday stress caused by intellectually demanding tasks that need to be done simultaneously affects people's perception of time and thus also their time preferences, given that individuals' preferences about time are based on their own perception of time. The study tests the link between stress and time perception and the link between stress and time preferences experimentally in a computer laboratory by exposing the participants in the experiment to different degrees of stress in the form of tasks of varying difficulty that jump up while time perception and time preferences are estimated. The study differs from other studies investigating the link between stress and time preferences in that we study time perception as a medium while others have justified the link with the negative effect of stress on working memory and thus the ability to think logically about intertemporal decisions. While we expect everyday stress to increase patience by making time seem to pass more quickly, the opposite is true according to the theory that stress affects time preferences through a negative impact on working memory. We will also examine whether there is a level of stress that is high enough that the negative effects of poor working memory on patience dominate the positive effects of perceiving time as faster. The study could potentially explain the mixed results shown by previous studies on the subject.
Hallén, Per	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Man and fish - phase 2	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 297 750 Phase 2 of the project Man and Fish. West coast fishing and the national economy 1700-2015.
Ekström, Karin M.	University of Borås	The role of art museums in valuing contemporary art	Economy	2017	Amount granted: 612 000 SEK The purpose of this study is to investigate how contemporary art is valued at art museums in Sweden through exhibitions and purchases. The focus is on the present, but it is also interesting to be able to make some historical comparisons to see how contemporary art has been valued at different turning points in the expansive development of consumer culture from the 1950s onwards. Contemporary art is important for reaching new visitors as it is often more accessible. The value of art has long been a controversial topic in the social debate and is visible in the tension between economy and culture. Art displayed in museums not only reaches the attention of the museum visitor, but often has a higher economic value. Key research questions are: What role do art museums play in creating value in contemporary art? Which contemporary art is highlighted in exhibitions and museum purchases? The study intends to focus on approximately 3-4 art museums and is based on an ethnographic method. Interviews are conducted with museum directors, curators/curators, educators, communication managers, etc. as well as studies of documentation. In addition, a limited number of people outside the studied art museums will be interviewed who have insight into these museums, such as artists, representatives of auction houses and art galleries.
Campos-Mercade, Pol	Lund University	Helping behaviour and group size	Economy	2017	Amount granted: 153 250 SEK When a person needs help, is he or she more likely to get help when there is one or more people who are able to help? Results from several psychological experiments suggest that the answer to this question depends entirely on the situation. In this project, I use game theory to predict in which situations an individual is more likely to get help when only one other person can help compared to when several people can help. I also investigate in which situations the opposite is true. The theoretical model concludes that in situations where there are few people willing to help, help is more likely to be given when many people are able to help. However, in situations where most people are willing to help, help is more likely to be given when only one person is able to help. I am seeking funding to conduct a study to test this theoretical model through a laboratory experiment and to disseminate the results of the study.
Bos, Marieke	Stockholm School of Economics, Swedish House of Finance	Conference on finance and sustainable performance	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 360 000 The Institute for Financial Research (renamed the Swedish House of Finance) organizes an annual conference on a theme in financial economics. This year's theme is financial decisions and sustainable outcomes. The conference is based on a dialog between academic economists and representatives from the financial industry. We intend to address the following questions, among others: Can we reduce the climate impact of banks without risking financial stability? Can we offer green investment products that do not make unsustainable promises to households? Is it realistic to promise higher returns in assets or strategies designed to encourage sustainable business models? Are investors willing to accept lower returns for the sake of the planet?
Berglund, Bengt		Volvo 1956-2001. From domestic group to global automotive player	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 150 000 The project on Volvo's development from group to global automotive player 1956-2001 starts at the time when Gunnar Engellau took over as CEO in 1956 and extends to the turn of the century 2000, when the group had just streamlined its operations and made the dramatic decision to sell its passenger car production to Ford. This was a period in Volvo's history characterized by great drama and also describes how Sweden's largest engineering company met the challenges faced by the automotive industry during almost half a century of structural transformation and changing production conditions. The focus of the study is on the choice of strategies within the group's various industrial parts, i.e. primarily Passenger Cars, Trucks and Commercial Vehicles, and their relationships with each other and the market. The international perspective is highlighted. The project, which is a continuation of an earlier study of the group's history up to the mid-1950s, is based primarily on various written sources taken from the Volvo Group's archives. The focus is on the board minutes of the various business areas, supplemented by internal material in the form of reports, correspondence and speeches from a number of Volvo managers. Access to this material has previously been very limited, so this is the first time that a more in-depth examination of the Volvo Group's development during the latter part of the 20th century has been possible. The project is expected to take three years.
Ax, Christian	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Accounting and social trends II	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 592 800 A leading direction in accounting research focuses on accounting in its organizational context, i.e. its practice, role and effects within firms. However, in recent years there has been an increasing interest in studying issues related to the external environment. Particularly distinctive are studies of the relationship between social trends and accounting. The central argument for this is that it increases the timeliness and social relevance of research. This project, which consists of a number of sub-projects, focuses on a number of current societal trends - the pursuit/demand for sustainable development, financial crises, globalization and changing market conditions - and relates them to equally current accounting issues - harmonization and globalization of accounting, accounting quality, integrated reporting, the link between management/governance and the impact of crises in and on firms (especially banks), and the development/testing of methodologies/approaches to deal with increased business complexity. The project aims to contribute not only to the research community but also to other accounting stakeholders, primarily standard setters and regulators (e.g. International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), EU and FAR), companies (e.g. management and accountants) and financial market participants. The knowledge the project is expected to generate is also highly relevant for education in the subject.
Andersson, David	Linköping University	Competition and intellectual property rights	Economy	2017	Amount granted: SEK 867 600 This legal economics project aims to shed light on how uncertain intellectual property rights can affect the competitive situation of different actors through the possibility of opposition to granted patents and trademarks. Secure and well-defined intellectual property rights are crucial for effective competition between market players, as in the simplest theoretical model an opposition procedure has the potential to transform a market from a monopoly to a duopoly. The project focuses on a hitherto neglected aspect in the literature, opposition proceedings against patents and trademarks during the period, 1977-2016. An empirical analysis of how these oppositions are related to the type of intellectual property rights and their owners can provide insight into how firms act strategically to create uncertainty about competitors' intellectual property rights while protecting their own.
Zander, Lena	Uppsala University	Highly skilled migrants: Cultural integration in Swedish companies	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 1 789 750 The importance of the project lies in the ambition to provide theoretical and empirical solutions to current societal problems and global challenges caused by a lack of multicultural integration in the workplace in the wake of international migration. The overall aim is a deeper understanding of cultural integration of highly skilled migrants in Swedish multinational companies from both an individual and an organizational perspective. The aim is not primarily to problematize migration and integration. Instead, the project assumes that highly qualified migrants have much to offer companies and societies, and therefore focuses on - from the migrants' point of view - identifying, describing and analyzing ways to exploit the potential for business and social development that this migration can entail. Historical facts indicate that some countries, such as Sweden, have been very good at extracting the knowledge and ideas of these migrants, which has benefited individuals, organizations and society.
Åström Rudberg, Elin	Stockholm School of Economics, EHFF	For the good of advertising. The advertising industry, the press and the advertising market 1915-1965	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 837 000 Advertising and marketing are intimately associated with modern society; in 2015, the total cost of advertising in Sweden amounted to over SEK 68 billion or 1.6 percent of Sweden's GDP. Research on the historical roots of advertising is extensive, both in Sweden and internationally, but there has been a great lack of source material from the advertising industry which has limited previous studies. The project "För reklamens bästa. The Swedish advertising industry, the daily press and the battle for the advertising market 1915-1965" has gained access to a new and extensive source material, which provides a unique opportunity to study the development of the advertising industry over a long period of time and answer research questions that were previously impossible to answer. While the development covers several aspects of business history, the project will focus on investigating a long-standing cartel in the advertising industry that was based on close cooperation between the largest advertising agencies and the newspapers. The cartel, which is unique from an international perspective, shaped the advertising market for five decades. How the cooperation worked, how it was legitimized and also what effects it had, especially for the development of the advertising industry in Sweden, are the main research questions. The project will provide an important contribution to the Swedish advertising history research and also to the international research on cartels, which in principle lacks studies from the service and knowledge sector.
Tell, Fredrik	Uppsala University	An emerging technology market: Actors in the Swedish patent system, 1819-1930	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 438 580 Patenting the knowledge developed by an inventor or a company involves the creation of an intellectual property right to ensure that the knowledge is documented and that the rights of the rightful author are protected against, for example, copying by competitors. In addition, the patent is a right that can be sold or licensed provided that there is a demand for the knowledge, the producer of the knowledge is willing to sell or share the knowledge and considers the compensation offered to be fair. The resulting transactions take place in what are known as technology markets. The aim of the project is to map the emergence of the Swedish patent system during the period 1819-1930, especially with regard to its consequences for the emergence of technology markets for patents. To achieve this purpose, the participants in the research project use unique data in the form of a database of all Swedish patents for the period and archival material that provides examples of the behavior of Swedish companies and inventors. The main interest is in trying to understand and explain how different actors act within the patent system and in what respects technology markets have emerged and in what form. The research project is conducted in three sub-projects: 1) The emergence of the patent system and the institutional conditions of technology markets; 2) Technology market actors: Size, geography, strategies and search patterns; 3) Networks and relationships: Intermediaries and internationalization.
Ax, Christian	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Accounting and social trends	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 738 900 A distinctive development in accounting research is the growing interest in studying issues related to the external environment of organizations. Particularly distinctive is the explicit focus on the relationship between social trends and accounting. The central argument for this type of research is that it significantly increases the timeliness and social relevance of the research. This project, which consists of six sub-projects with varying specific research questions and objectives, focuses on a number of current societal trends - striving for/demands for sustainable development, financial crises, globalization and changes in market conditions - and relates them to equally current accounting issues - harmonization and globalization of accounting, accounting quality, integrated reporting, the link between management/governance and the effects of crises in and for organizations (especially banks) and the development/testing of methodologies/approaches for the implementation of sustainability efforts in organizations. The project does not intend to contribute new knowledge only to the research literature, but also in several respects to other accounting stakeholders, primarily standard setters and regulators (e.g. International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), EU and FAR), organizations (e.g. management and accountants) and financial market participants. The knowledge the projects are expected to generate is also highly relevant to accounting education.
Wissén, Pehr	Institute for Financial Research	Conference on technology and securities trading	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 450 000 The Swedish House of Finance (formerly the Institute for Financial Research) organizes an annual conference on a theme in financial economics. This year's theme is technology and securities trading. The conference is based on a dialog between academic economists and representatives from the financial industry. We intend to highlight how the industry can adapt to new technologies, market structures, and regulations, such as blockchain technology for securities trading and clearing, electronic trading based on artificial intelligence, competition between trading venues, exchange trading for bonds and derivative products, and MiFID II.
Husebye, Alexander	The Center for Business History Association	Announced new editions of business history classics	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 280 000 The Center for Business History wants to start publishing a book series with selected classics in Swedish and international business history, economic history and business history. The publication will take place within the framework of the newly established publishing house Näringslivshistoria. This will enable historical works that are in demand to be disseminated and used again in teaching, research, archives and among readers interested in business history. The classics series will also help to establish and manifest business history as a subject area in its own right and with a core of central literature. The aim is threefold. Firstly, the project aims to create practical conditions for such a publication by developing procedures, production forms and physical design of the book series. Secondly, the aim is to carry out a general survey of relevant literature in the field and, based on this, to make an initial selection or list for publication and to sign agreements with the relevant publishers and rights holders. Thirdly, the aim is to start publishing the first titles in the series, with new introductions and commentaries written by researchers in the field.
Lodefalk, Magnus	Örebro University	Foreign trade financing policies - a microeconomic evaluation	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 1 457 020 For many companies, especially smaller ones, international business can be risky - companies don't know if the foreign buyer will pay. Therefore, countries often offer government support in the form of insurance and loans. Globally, 10% of world exports were insured in 2014, equivalent to USD 1.9 trillion - a more than 50% increase compared to the beginning of the financial crisis. For Sweden, outstanding insurance and loans amounted to SEK 400 billion. Despite the scale of the interventions, research is very limited due to a lack of data. Swedish support has never been analyzed. We have gained access to uniquely detailed data that makes it possible for the first time to analyze the effects of government interventions on the internationalization and growth of Swedish companies over time. For the small and open Swedish economy, knowledge of the potential effects of the aid is particularly important. Based on our theoretical model, we quantify the effects on firms' internationalization, integration into global production networks, jobs and growth. The aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex role of government interventions. With this new knowledge, policy makers and authorities in the field are expected to have a much more solid basis for deciding on the design of financial support to achieve growth and internationalization objectives. In turn, businesses are expected to benefit practically from new knowledge on how to finance their foreign trade.
Husebye, Alexander	The Center for Business History Association	Biography of Per Olof (Pelle) Söderberg	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 100 000 The Center for Business History is conducting a book project telling the life of Per Olof (Pelle) Söderberg. Pelle Söderberg is one of several successful entrepreneurs who characterized the Swedish business community in the 19th century, as well as a leading figure in the Söderberg family. The project also aims to fill a gap - Sweden's economic development in the 19th century has been described in general terms, especially in economic history, but biographies of individual entrepreneurs are all the more rare. The project is divided into three stages: the first stage involves research focusing on sources that have not been used so far (private material, public archives, newspapers, etc.); the second stage involves text production; the third stage involves layout and printing. In the course of the project, two seminars will be organized to evaluate sources and scripts. The book on Pelle Söderberg will be published by Förlaget Näringslivshistoria and presented at the Gothenburg Book Fair in 2018.
Andersson, Magnus	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Early banking in Sweden during the industrialization process 1850-1920	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 885 000 The purpose of the study is to show the importance of the emerging banks in Sweden and their actors in the transition from merchant capitalist to industrial capitalist financing starting around 1850. The size and expansion of lending can be estimated, among other things, by studying the bank inspectors' assessments of different banks over time. The archive material makes it possible to carefully follow and analyze the banks' activities over long periods of time. This includes each bank's assets, liabilities and credit portfolios. The development of the borrowing companies was thus closely followed. In a first sub-study, I study the conditions in Gothenburg in particular, as a natural continuation of my previous studies in the field of credit, with trading houses at the forefront. Previously, trading houses and other informal actors had to a large extent handled the granting of credit and the mediation of goods and other services. A second sub-study examines the importance of the domestic exchange rate for banks' credit expansion. The third sub-study is a study of the three largest and most important banks for Sweden's industrial development during the period, Svenska Handelsbanken Stockholms Enskilda Bank and Skandinaviska Kredit AB.
Ekström, Karin M.	University of Borås	Consumer behavior - classic and contemporary perspectives	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 50 000 Translation of the textbook "Consumer behavior - classical and contemporary perspectives" from Swedish to English. The book is written by Karin M. Ekström, Mikael Ottosson and Anders Parment. Knowledge of consumer behavior is central to the subject of marketing and the book will be of interest for courses at universities and colleges that focus on marketing and trade, but also for practitioners who are in need of knowledge in this area. Commerce, which employs around 500,000 people, needs to increase its level of education and the book will contribute to this. Examples from commerce are given throughout the book.
Edvinsson, Rodney	Stockholm University	Property prices in Stockholm city center from the 17th century to today	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 2 525 000 The rise in housing prices in Stockholm over the past 20 years is unprecedented in a historical perspective. The relationship between real estate prices and various fundamental factors is a highly controversial issue. Some argue that fundamental factors are responsible for the higher housing prices. Others warn of an imminent crash. A longer time horizon can add nuance to this discussion. Over the past 150 years, four real estate price crashes have occurred: 1905-1918, 1931-1955, 1979-1985 and 1990-1995. All four crashes followed an extended period of price increases, construction boom and economic crisis. The lessons learned from these crashes are still relevant. The main objective of the project is to reconstruct a historical real estate index for the inner city of Stockholm since the 17th century. This index will be used to analyze long-term trends and short-term fluctuations. The reconstruction of a real estate price index is complicated not least by the difficulty of measuring qualitative changes. Two methods used are either to follow only the sales price of the same dwelling or to follow the ratio between market price and assessed value. Both aim to keep quality constant, and both will be used in this study. For the earlier period, however, the index will be based on average price changes.
Schneider, Christoph	Stockholm School of Economics, SIR	Transparent calculations for the sale of capital equipment	Economy	2016	Amount granted: 410 000 SEK The aim of the project is to study open book accounting (OBA) in the sale of capital equipment. OBA was established as a new field in the financial management literature in the 1990s. The research stems from the observation that firms have become increasingly interdependent. On average, companies purchase more than 50% of their goods and services from business partners. At the same time, the products purchased have become increasingly complex and require close cooperation and information exchange between firms. The OBA literature focuses on such systematic, confidential financial and non-financial information exchanges. A large number of studies have been conducted with a focus on component purchases where it has been shown that OBA is designed and used in different ways depending on whether the components are standardized or specified by the supplier, the customer or both. At the same time, OBA has not been studied for capital equipment, which have been important products for the Swedish export industry and are characterized by large investments and even larger consequential costs. Capital equipment requires continuous maintenance with spare parts and downtime can lead to high consequential costs. OBA could be used here, but its design is complicated by the self-interest of customers, subcontractors and independent service companies. This leads to three questions: 1) How can OBA be used and 2) designed in the sale of capital equipment? 3) How does this form of OBA differ from previously studied ones?
Rovira Nordman, Emilia	Stockholm School of Economics, SIR	Internationalization behavior in medium-sized retail companies	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 2 698 900 Medium-sized enterprises in Sweden can be considered an important engine of economic growth. However, these companies are still few in number. The aim of this project is to understand how Swedish small businesses in the retail sector manage to expand their operations abroad and grow into medium-sized enterprises. Swedish retail companies are often dependent on foreign sales for continued growth. To achieve the purpose, we will study growth processes in small businesses by analyzing two databases. The qualitative database will be based on secondary data from retail companies. Specifically, we will conduct five case studies on retail companies that have managed to grow from small to medium size. The quantitative data collection will be conducted via an online survey to a larger group of internationally operating retail companies. The collected survey data will be complemented by secondary data. Planned methods to analyze the collected data include factor analysis and cox regressions. By combining case studies with new sets of objective data sources (covering long periods of time), the project can contribute to existing research on retail companies. The project aims to contribute to the development of the international research front and to generate knowledge for practitioners with an interest in helping retail companies succeed in long-term international growth.
Ling, Johan	University of Gothenburg	Rock carvings and economic cycles	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 2 390 000 The proposed project's starting point is that the rock carvings are a unique source material that can be linked to economic cycles in the metal trade and that the rock carving material can thus contribute actively to the knowledge of the social and economic history of the Bronze Age. Archaeological finds and analyses indicate that during the Bronze Age, 1700-500 BCE, the Nordic countries were part of complex interregional metal exchange networks. These networks changed over time in relation to the availability of copper and tin, which means that we can talk about economic cycles in the metal trade. The Nordic rock carvings were thus influenced by the European regions and networks that supplied metal to Scandinavia and the rock carvings reflect both networks and economic cycles in an exciting way. The project aims to identify ups and downs in rock carving practice and to relate them to overall economic and social cycles. Svenskt Hällristnings Forsknings Arkiv (SHFA) has access to a new 3D documentation material of rock carvings and the idea is now to make a book that presents and links the new material to our research idea. There is great international interest in the new information that has emerged thanks to the new 3D techniques. SHFA has previously published several books with the renowned English publisher Oxbow, which has an extensive international distribution network, and we see this as a suitable forum for the upcoming book.
Berggren, Niclas	Institute for Business Research	Trust, tolerance and growth - new approaches to finding causal links	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 680 000 It is not a given that an economy will function well and contribute to increased prosperity. In recent years, economists have recognized that laws and regulations are important and affect people's willingness and ability to behave productively. 'Soft' factors such as morals and norms, and social attitudes such as trust and tolerance are also studied. For example, honesty and trustworthiness can stimulate economic growth by enabling innovative risk-taking and smooth transactions. This project studies precisely how such cultural and social factors have an economic impact. Particular emphasis is placed on trying to establish causal relationships, i.e. what causes what in society. For example, there is much evidence that social trust leads to economic growth, but it is also possible that economic growth promotes trust in a society. Methodologically, it is often difficult to determine which is the case, but it is of great importance to clarify the nature of the causal relationship, not least to be able to give more precise advice to economic policy makers on how they should formulate policy. In this project, we build on the research we conducted with funding from the Torsten Söderberg Foundation in 2015-2016. In three subprojects, we explore how individuals' norms are shaped and how norms affect their choices, as well as the relationships between norms, institutions, and economic outcomes at the country level. Within each subproject, we use a newly developed methodology that allows us to establish causal relationships.
Fritz, Martin		Sweden's man in London - Björn Prytz private archive	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 150 000 The private archive of Björn Prytz, Swedish envoy in London during the Second World War, which has been made available to me, has now been examined and, together with material from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the British Foreign Office, has proved to be the basis for a book. This study focuses on Prytz's work in London to explain and defend Sweden's actions but also to report to the Swedish Foreign Office on British policy towards Sweden.
Rydqvist, Kristian	Stockholm School of Economics	Historical share price and accounting database	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 350 000 Swedish share price and accounting data are available in the Finda database from 1979 onwards. The purpose of this project is to update the Finda database back to 1912. The work of collecting daily share prices and turnover figures has been completed. We have also collected and scanned almost all 7314 annual reports for listed companies 1912-1978. Only 186 remain. The scanning of annual reports has been financed by the Torsten Söderberg Foundation. This part of the project concerns the punching of the income statements and balance sheets. As soon as the punched material becomes available, we will standardize the accounting information so that it can be submitted to the existing Finda database.
Sundevall, Fia	Stockholm University	Poverty care and the ballot paper: the economic stratification of voting rights after 1921	Economy	2016	Amount granted: SEK 123 750 The project aims to explore the limitations of the political citizenship of poor relief recipients after the democratic breakthrough. When so-called universal suffrage was introduced in 1921, a number of grounds for disqualification remained. Most of those who continued to be disqualified from voting did so because they were regular recipients of poor relief. It was not until 1945 that the right to vote was extended to those on poor relief. By mapping and analyzing how these restrictions were legitimized, practiced, challenged and finally abolished, important empirical contributions can be generated on both the development of Swedish voting rights after 1921, and on how society's economically vulnerable were understood, excluded and defended during a sociopolitical and economically revolutionary period in Swedish history.
Wissén, Pehr	Institute for Financial Research, SIFR	Financing businesses, households and nations after the crisis	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 450 000 The SIFR organizes an annual conference on a theme in financial economics. The theme for 2016 is the financing of companies, banks and nation states after the financial crisis. Do we need new rules, new institutions and new markets? The conference is based on a dialog between academic economists and representatives of the financial sector. The financial crisis and the subsequent Euro crisis have reminded us how costly financial crises can be. In response to the recent crises, a number of important financial regulations in the EU, Sweden and the US have been changed and developed with the aim of reducing the risk of new crises and the consequences if one occurs. For example, the regulations have changed so that banks hold significantly more share capital today than before the crisis. Regardless of regulations and laws, the risk of crises can never be completely eliminated. Individual companies and banks, as well as political entities, will face payment problems. Therefore, it is important to have a clear regulatory framework that regulates how a company, bank or nation that can no longer survive on its own should be recapitalized or dissolved at the lowest possible cost. It is also important to review how organizations and markets function. The conference highlights the changes that have already been made and the need for further change.
Ulväng, Marie	Uppsala University	Spices and socks: Global and peripheral consumption patterns 1600-1850	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 123 500 What role did Swedish manufactures, surplus regulations and Norwegian border trade play in the consumption patterns of farmers in the Swedish hinterland? In the forested and sparsely populated interior, the conditions for consumption were different from those in the cities and in the agricultural areas of southern Sweden. Around the turn of the century, Härjedalen's herding and trade in dairy products gave the tax farmers a scope for consumption that made it possible to buy a larger amount of manufactured fabrics. The proximity to the Norwegian border trade made Härjedalen part of a global trade. Museum collections and estate inventories show that, despite customs barriers and abundance regulations, many purchased fabrics were foreign-made. The study aims to shed light on the supply and demand for manufactured fabrics and to understand the spread of fashion and people's attitudes towards purchased fabrics and home-made goods. The study is part of a European network on the consumption of manufactured fabrics, knitted socks, coffee and exotic spices in northern and southern Europe 1650-1850.
Strömberg, Per	Stockholm School of Economics	Why are salaries in the financial sector so high? Causes and implications	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 747 000 The wages of employees in the financial industry have increased dramatically since the 1980s relative to other industries in a large number of countries. In a previous study (Boehm, Metger & Strömberg, 2015), we show that this also applies to the Swedish financial sector, where the relative wage for an employee in the financial sector went from being 30% higher in 1991 to being 70% higher in 2010, compared with other industries. The financial sector has thus been one of the industries that has contributed most to the increasing inequality in income and wealth that has been documented in a large number of countries over the past 40 years. In a previous study, we showed that, (1) average talent has not increased in the finance industry since 1990; (2) the share of the most talented individuals going to the finance industry is essentially constant; and (3) finance wages have increased across the entire talent distribution, not just for the most talented individuals. These findings raise important new questions, which we want to address in this project: - If increased competition for talent is not driving wages, what is? - Which sub-sectors of the financial industry, and which firms, have seen the largest wage increases, and if so, why? - Why aren't more talented individuals being attracted to the financial sector, even though relative wages have increased? - Which sectors do the most talented individuals go to, how has this changed over time, and what impact has this had on productivity and innovation?
Sjöholm, Carina	Gothenburg City Museum	Heads or tails? An exhibition on economy, value creation and money	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 1 470 000 As a result of the project 'Krona eller klave? Different sides of coins and credits in 19th century Gothenburg", an exhibition is being produced by the Gothenburg City Museum. It is based on the results of the research group within the project, the museum's in-depth documentation of the collection and dialogues with the target group. In addition, the perspective will be broadened to discuss how economic and other values arise, how they change over time and how they have, and have had, an impact on all of us in a global world. The exhibition provides a substantive discussion on different types of values such as economic, cultural-historical, symbolic and national. But also how these values are expressed in museum practice and how they can be changed with the help of the exhibition medium and the visitor's experience. The goal is to engage students in mathematical thinking and contribute to a positive development of mathematical knowledge in Swedish schools, while at the same time providing skills development in the museum's pedagogy and exhibition production.
Nordlund Edvinsson, Therese	Stockholm University	Outside the boardroom: Women, children and family business 1890-1950	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 885 000 Swedish industry is dominated by men who manage and own businesses. However, throughout history, women have contributed in various ways to the survival of family businesses. The aim of the project is to investigate how marriage, entrepreneurship and family life were combined during a time when women were often in the shadow of the business. The project deals with the leading business families in Gothenburg during the period 1890 to 1950. How were children integrated into the business? How did marital alliances influence business networks? The first case study analyzes how children were involved in the family business. We know very little about how sons and daughters were trained in the family business. The second case study examines how marital alliances and networks between different families were cultivated in Gothenburg and how this could contribute to the empowerment of women. By analyzing entrepreneurship from the perspective of women and children, the intention is to study the scope of action they had within the family business. Although the family has often been treated in previous research on business dynasties, female family members are rarely at the center. I use both a database that I have developed and previously unexplored source material consisting of diaries and correspondence. The project highlights actors in corporate history who have previously been made invisible. The project contributes to increasing our knowledge of the importance of women and children in the family business.
Hasselberg, Ylva		The nature of science. Eli F. Heckscher 1879-1952	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 180 000 The project concerns the completion of a biography of Eli F. Heckscher, the Swedish economist and economic historian. Heckscher lived during a period when modern Sweden was emerging. I mean not only that Sweden was industrialized, urbanized and democratized, but that modernity in the sense of individualism and modern institutions were created. He belonged to a generation that debated and took a stance on this process, and he problematized and historicized it in his research. He took part in the planned economy debate, acted as a popular educator, fought his duels with the Stockholm School on the role of the state in the economy and sat on several committees. He was a strong personality, and much of the source material also testifies to the conditions of science in the first half of the 20th century, and the struggling man's negotiations with this emerging modernity. In this way, the biography being written is both an intellectual biography and an analysis of high modern Sweden. My idea is that it will, as Johan Asplund once wrote, constitute the slash in the conceptual pair of man/society.
Agndal, Henrik	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Management of complex business relationships	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 2 099 417 As vertically integrated companies evolve into organizations based on cooperation and relationships with other companies, new needs for interorganizational governance arise. In this context, governance means developing certain types of relationships and exchanges using various methods and techniques that together form a governance system. Inter-organisational governance is of great importance for most companies, but knowledge of this phenomenon is based on studies of rather one-dimensional relationships. Much of the complexity that in practice characterizes interorganizational relationships is thus ignored in these studies. The overall aim of the project is therefore to create greater understanding of the governance of interorganizational relationships. Through the following research questions, the project addresses three specific complexities: (1) How does the governance of certain activities affect the governance of other activities within complex, multidimensional interorganizational relationships? (2) How does the design and use of internal governance systems affect interorganizational governance systems and vice versa? (3) What role does institutional duality play in the governance of international interorganizational relations? We answer these questions through interview-based case studies of interorganizational relations. The project will take two years and the results will not only advance the research front, but also be disseminated to practitioners and used in our teaching.
Hallén, Per	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Man and fish. West coast fishing and the economy 1700-2015.	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 472 000 The fisherman with a south-west wind on a small rolling fishing boat with a spark plug engine is an ideal image of fishing for many people. However, the reality, both past and present, is far from that ideal. Vessels and fishing methods have undergone many dramatic periods of change where both technology and organization have changed fundamentally. One of the most radical periods of change has occurred in our own time. Fishing is now strictly regulated and modern technology has made it possible to monitor the activity of vessels at sea. The quota system has driven the trend towards larger and fewer fishing vessels, which makes it easier to control fishing and creates a motivation for fishermen to stay within the regulations as they are keen to keep their catch quotas. Today, quotas, politics and marine ecology are driving the change in fishing, what are the driving forces over the past centuries? This project aims to investigate the period 1700 to today and see how catches, techniques, financing and organization have changed the fishery along the Swedish west coast. In the first stage of the project, the emphasis is on investigating the extent of the catches and which fish species were interesting to catch. During the four hundred years that the project intends to investigate, herring plays a central role. Past herring fishing periods are usually well known, but even today herring is of great economic importance and herring quotas are among the most sought after by fishermen.
Kjellberg, Hans	Stockholm School of Economics, SIR	Market dynamics patterns, a doctoral program	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 3 770 000 Although markets can, under certain conditions, be effective mechanisms for resource allocation, their social importance is rather linked to their ability to generate change and development. When this happens, markets also change: new offerings are introduced, new insights about customers are formed, new customer relationships are built, new types of intermediaries are established, new methods of competition are tried. Nevertheless, our knowledge of change and development processes in markets is very shallow compared to the static analysis of the ideal market. This doctoral program is based on a dynamic and actor-based view of markets that focuses on how different actors try to change markets, and how they actually change through their efforts. It aims to identify, characterize and explain different types and patterns of market change. An increased understanding of change processes in markets is theoretically important, but also practically relevant for those who drive or are affected by changes in the organization and functioning of individual markets, e.g. companies, consumers, civil society organizations, and authorities. The program includes 4 PhD projects based on in-depth case studies of markets that are undergoing or have undergone significant transformations. These are: 1) the emergence of the sharing economy, 2) the emergence of legal cannabis markets in the US, 3) the merging of markets through the smart phone, and 4) the deregulation of passenger air travel.
Sandberg, Anna	Stockholm University	Do male-dominated environments affect gender differences in performance and career choice?	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 220 000 Even today, large and economically significant gender gaps in pay and representation persist. Despite high female participation in the workforce, progress towards equal pay has stagnated and few women reach the very top. With the removal of formal barriers to women's advancement, and the fact that in many countries women are better educated than men, we need to find new explanations for the persistent gender gaps in the labor market. This research project aims to study a relatively unexplored mechanism behind gender differences in the labor market: the gender composition of work groups. Are women's performance and well-being negatively affected by male-dominated environments? This is difficult to study in a credible way, partly because of insufficient data, and partly because the gender composition of groups often correlates with other factors that affect gender differences in outcomes. We will use Swedish register data to analyze how gender differences in doctoral students' study results, dropouts and labor market outcomes are affected by the gender composition of doctoral programs. By exploiting the fact that the proportion of men in each doctoral program varies between adjacent cohorts, we can capture the causal effect of the proportion of male doctoral students in a program. The results are expected to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms behind persistent gender gaps in the labor market, and thus be of interest to international researchers and policy makers alike.
Söderberg, Johan	Stockholm University	Sluggish prices and macroeconomic fluctuations	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 885 000 In recent years, the New Keynesian general equilibrium model has become the standard model for monetary policy analysis and today variants of the model are widely used by both academic institutions and many central banks. The model is based on a foundation of neoclassical elements with optimizing agents and rational expectations. However, prices are assumed to be sticky, which means that monetary shocks affect the real economy. While most economists agree that sticky prices are the reason why monetary shocks are not neutral, it has been less clear why prices are sticky. Nevertheless, the importance of distinguishing between alternative theories has never been questioned. This is because it has long been known that different assumptions about why prices are sticky have a major impact on both the quantitative and normative properties of the model. This has generated considerable interest in the empirical investigation of how prices are determined. The results from these studies suggest that price formation in the economy is much more complex than previously thought: prices change more frequently, the changes are larger, and they are modified by different factors than previously assumed. Moreover, it is a heterogeneous process where different firms follow different strategies. The aim of this research project is to incorporate into the New Keynesian model some of the newly found empirical relationships that seem most relevant from a macro-policy perspective.
Fellman, Susanna	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Regulation and strategies: international cartels in the 20th century	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 1 798 500 Cartels and competition policy are perennial topics in political debate and especially in European policy. In the late 20th century, there was a relative consensus among Western economists that market regulation was largely a bad thing and that the removal of regulation would automatically lead to better and more efficient markets. Since the 2008 financial crisis, this view has been challenged and the increasingly accepted view is that a regulatory framework is needed to establish a well-functioning market economy. The discussion has mainly concerned financial markets, but competition policy is also debated. However, a historical perspective on competition policy suggests that this discussion is not new but has been ongoing throughout the 20th century. In this project, we will study how internationalization in the form of increased trade and freer movement of capital has affected the strategies and functioning of international cartels. This is studied in three subprojects where different industries are highlighted and compared. At the same time, we also study how national and international regulations have affected the development. A special focus is also placed on Nordic cooperation in the field of competition policy and how they tackled the problem of international cartels. The project is economic-historical in nature and is based on new source research, but is also strongly rooted in economic and institutional theory.
Fritz, Martin		Sweden's man in London during World War II - Björn Prytz's private archive	Economy	2015	Amount granted: 130 000 SEK Almost by coincidence, I have been given the opportunity to take part in an unusually interesting archive material, namely a previously unknown private archive of Sweden's head of mission in London during World War II, the former CEO of SKF Björn G. Prytz. Having access to both his formal, but during the war secret, correspondence with foreign ministry officials in Sweden and the correspondence with a large number of people who were part of his private network, both in England and in Sweden, makes it possible to make a more in-depth analysis of Britain's actions against Sweden during the war. The relationship was certainly not unproblematic, as it was claimed in London that Swedish alignment with Germany went too far on several occasions. But the material also gives concrete form to Prytz's other tasks and the many different issues and problems a Swedish envoy had to deal with. The aim of the study is to publish a book that can both provide new aspects of Anglo-Swedish relations during the Second World War and also show how a prominent Swedish diplomat at the time worked with the support of an extensive personal network in both England and Sweden.
Hultin, Lotta	Stockholm School of Economics, SIR	The impact of digitalization on value-creating relationships in the public sector	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 1 186 200 The development of digital information technology brings radically new opportunities to produce and consume services. In the public sector, these opportunities have the potential to contribute to increased customer centricity, efficiency and cost savings, but also to fundamentally change the relationship between producer and consumer and state and citizen. However, the opportunities do not come without challenges. As more and more of society's actors are embedded in a complex network of digital technologies, the boundaries of traditional institutions and categories such as public/private and citizen/customer become blurred and ethical questions of integrity, trust, equality and justice become relevant. It is therefore important to investigate how digital technologies change public service practices and processes and what consequences this has for the values and subjects that are ultimately produced as legitimate. This research project aims to investigate these questions from a socio-material perspective through which we study digital technology not only as a representation (of human intentions), but as a performance that has consequences for the development of the system as a whole. With this approach, our aim is to deepen the understanding of the effects of digitalization on the development of value-creating relationships in public services.
Lapidus, John	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	New funding options for key welfare services	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 923 000 The Swedish welfare model is undergoing changes. This includes the extensive privatization of central welfare services that began in the early 1990s. But it is not only the operation of welfare services that has undergone changes. The financing has also changed to some extent. This involves new, private financing alternatives that are often subsidized to some extent by the state. One example is the RUT deductions for privately financed elderly care. The new forms of financing are often dependent on there being a private producer offering the same. In this way, there seems to be a link between private operation and private financing. What is the nature of this link between private management and private funding? What are the social consequences of a welfare model that is increasingly based on privately financed welfare solutions? The purpose of the research project is to study a certain type of change in the Swedish welfare model. First, it is about understanding and analyzing the relatively unexplored relationship between privatized operation and privatized financing of central welfare services. Secondly, it is about understanding and analyzing the relatively unexplored social consequences of a welfare model that is increasingly based on privately financed welfare services. Thirdly, it is about being able to say something about where the Swedish welfare model is, and where it is heading.
Maican, Florin	Institute for Economic Research	Competition in grocery retailing	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 360 000 Grocery shopping constitutes a large part of private consumption. Together with large stores in external locations, there is currently a trend towards further developing smaller grocery stores that are geographically close to the consumer. The overall aim of the research project is to make a dynamic analysis of demand and market structure in the Swedish grocery trade. We use newly developed models and methods with deep theoretical grounding and take into account that stores differ in size, location and service level. The first part consists of a detailed analysis of consumers' choice and valuation of different store formats from a geographical perspective. The second part deals with firms' decisions and costs to establish, reallocate and remove stores from local markets. A unique combination of databases covering all grocery stores in Sweden during the period 2001-2013 will be used. A central contribution of the research project is that we simulate the development of the grocery market following a number of hypothetical changes such as a more liberal regulation of new establishments. The project contributes to the international research front by using models based on economic theory together with newly developed statistical methods to analyze strategic interaction between firms.
Wahlström, Gunnar	University of Gothenburg, GRI	External accounting and corporate relations in capital markets	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 1 055 000 This project aims to critically analyze the recent changes in external accounting. One such change is the introduction of IFRS in Swedish accounting practice. IFRS is based on an increased use of market valuation in external accounting. However, the problems with market valuation are underestimated. The increased use of market valuation means that companies' results and position have increasingly become a reflection of how the market has developed rather than how the company is doing. Thus, a company's board of directors, through their signatures in the annual report, are attesting more to the market's assessment rather than to the company's performance. To have information value, the information must be different from general information. Instead of being based on a market assessment, external reporting should be based on the performance of the company. This means that transaction-oriented accounting is prioritized instead of accounting based on expectations about the future where more and more unrealized gains are recognized in the profit for the year. Methodologically, the project is based on three closely related sub-studies. First, the debate on external accounting is studied nationally and internationally, followed by a comprehensive content analysis of annual reports to further identify problems in practice. The results of these two studies are then used to construct interview questions for company representatives and interpreters of external accounting.
Sundevall, Fia	Labour movement archives and libraries	Poverty care and the ballot paper: the economic stratification of voting rights after 1921	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 597 000 The project aims to explore the limitations of the political citizenship of poor relief recipients after the democratic breakthrough. When so-called universal suffrage was introduced in 1921, a number of grounds for disqualification remained. Most of those who continued to be disqualified from voting did so because they were regular recipients of poor relief. It was not until 1945 that the right to vote was extended to those on poor relief. By mapping and analyzing how these restrictions were legitimized, practiced, challenged and finally abolished, important empirical contributions can be generated on both the development of Swedish voting rights after 1921, and on how society's economically vulnerable were understood, excluded and defended during a sociopolitical and economically revolutionary period in Swedish history.
Andersson, Magnus	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Stage III The European goods and credit market in the pre-industrial era	Economy	2015	Amount granted: SEK 570 000 The trade that drove the development and transformed Gothenburg's role as a gateway and enabled greater financial integration was the extensive export of herring from Gothenburg with grain in return loads from the Baltic region. This trade laid the foundation for the prosperity achieved among groups of merchants in the early 19th century. The aim of the project is to analyze the European payment and credit system in the early modern period, based on the flow of goods under changing international economic conditions, and to map the actors involved in trade and credit networks. The significance for the research situation is that it will be possible to systematize the path of goods flows through the gateway systems that emerge around important trade routes. Early modern cashless payments, through e.g. bills of exchange, "Cashless Payment", are assumed to create expanded trade opportunities and secure a credible financial, credit and trade system. Examples of central questions that are asked are: How did trade develop for Gothenburg during the period? What competitive advantages did it have compared with other cities in Europe? What role did Swedish trading cities play in a larger system of European gateways? The project will be carried out by systematically mapping the foreign ship traffic to and from Gothenburg, by further expanding the database of Gothenburg's two-day journals that I am working with, which will then be compared with other databases and with economic and legal material.
Hagberg, Axel	Stockholm School of Economics, EHFF	Experiences from the early 20th century Swedish shadow banking sector	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 835 000 The Swedish issuing companies operated in a zone that is today known as shadow banking. The project "Shadow Banking in Sweden - Experiences from the early 19th Century" will study the emergence, activities and rapid exit of the Swedish issuing companies from the financial playing field in connection with the financial crash of 1922. Issuing companies were established as ordinary limited companies in 1914-1918 with the aim of promoting Swedish industry and increasing cooperation between industry and the financial sector. Their task was to channel a large surplus of deposits into new productive investments and to create new, untested combinations from the existing resources of Swedish industry. The issuing companies were initially very successful and quickly became an important part of shaping the strong optimism about the future in the 1910s. For posterity, however, the issuing company industry, which disappeared with the crisis of the 1920s, has perhaps come to be associated mostly with speculation. In the light of the current European situation with an increased focus on regulation, what lessons can be drawn from the rise and fall of the Swedish issuing companies in the 1920s crisis? It may be interesting to consider the similarities between the issuing companies and today's venture capital companies. Could it also be that one of the major Swedish financial innovations of the early 20th century, the issuing companies, was in fact one of the first victims of the 1920s crisis and not, as they have often been described until today, one of its causes?
Swiss, Roger	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Developing R&D capacity in emerging markets	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 1 667 500 An increasing number of multinationals have come to realize that the so-called emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) offer very good conditions for conducting research and development (R&D) activities to develop innovative and resource-efficient products and services for the global market at relatively low cost. To exploit this business opportunity, multinationals need to build up the necessary R&D capacity and knowledge in local units and integrate the new unit into the existing global organization to enable the new knowledge developed to be shared with other R&D units in the group. Research to date has not studied these two interconnected processes. By studying a number of Swedish multinational companies' R&D units in India and how they have built up the necessary local R&D capacity and knowledge and how this affects the companies' global R&D strategy and organization, the study will not only address the research gaps outlined above, but also contribute knowledge to practitioners on how this process can be managed and how challenges can be addressed.
Andersson, Magnus	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Stage II The European goods and credit market in the pre-industrial era	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 447 500 The trade that drove the development and transformed Gothenburg's role as a gateway and enabled greater financial integration was the extensive export of herring from Gothenburg with grain in return loads from the Baltic region. This trade laid the foundation for the prosperity achieved among groups of merchants in the early 19th century. The aim of the project is to analyze the European payment and credit system in the early modern period, based on the flow of goods under changing international economic conditions, and to map the actors involved in trade and credit networks. The significance for the research situation is that it will be possible to systematize the path of goods flows through the gateway systems that emerge around important trade routes. Early modern cashless payments, through e.g. bills of exchange, "Cashless Payment" are assumed to create extended trade opportunities and ensure a credible financial, credit and trade system. Examples of central questions that are asked are: How did trade develop for Gothenburg during the period? What competitive advantages did it have compared with other cities in Europe? What role did Swedish trading cities play in a larger system of European gateways? The project is carried out by systematically mapping the foreign ship traffic to and from Gothenburg, through a continued expansion of the database of Gothenburg's two-day journals that I work with, which is then compared with other databases and with economic and legal material.
Husebye, Alexander	Center for Business History	Peder Herzog - Jewish migrant, successful entrepreneur	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 1 374 000 The Center for Business History is conducting a combined research-preparatory archive and book project to shed light on Peder Herzog as an entrepreneur and the companies he started and ran during his life. Herzog worked as an immigrant entrepreneur during a dynamic period of the emergence of modern Sweden. He operated in an industry, printing, that was characterized by strong growth and new technological innovations that developed book and newspaper reading into a mass market. Studies of this development and the actors are lacking except for small parts that are included in other research. The biography of Peder Herzog as a person has so far been only modestly elucidated. The project is carried out in two stages, the first of which is to inventory and compile material from various public and private archives. A selection will also be digitized and published on the internet as a complement to the content of the book. In the second stage, a book is produced with the writer Per T H Dahl as author and richly illustrated with images and original documents from the archives.
Loft, Anne	Lund University	Accounting regulation and practice	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 2 944 000 In recent decades, the number of regulations in the field of accounting has increased significantly. Globalization, increased environmental concerns and financial crises are some of the explanations for the increased scope of new regulations. An important question in this context is what effects the new regulations have on companies' operations. Accounting plays a central role in companies' economic decision-making. New regulations can affect the accounting practices of companies and changes in accounting practices can in turn affect the economic decisions made by company management. Although regulation and accounting are significant activities in firms, knowledge of how regulation affects firms' practices is limited. To develop knowledge on the relationship between regulation and practice, three related sub-projects are being carried out. The first subproject focuses on how the new IFRS accounting model affects firms' decision-making. The second subproject focuses on comparing the impact of regulations on accounting practices in two industries with different levels of regulatory requirements. The third sub-project focuses on the impact of accounting regulations on the practice of the accounting and auditing profession.
Palme, Mårten	Stockholm University	Equality before the law? The effect of judges' background on their decision-making	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 1 875 500 Being tried in an impartial court is a fundamental human right and means that everyone should be treated fairly in a trial regardless of gender, socio-economic background and ethnicity. Understanding whether the opinions and values of judges and jurors influence their decisions is therefore fundamental to ensuring equality before the law. However, there is currently very limited knowledge about the extent to which courts are impartial. This research project aims to analyze whether discrimination occurs in the Swedish legal system. From a research point of view, the Swedish court system offers a unique opportunity to investigate this, as it is random which judge and which members of the jury judge a particular criminal case. Common methodological problems such as the correlation of the judge's background with the nature of the criminal case can thus be avoided. The availability of Swedish register data also makes it possible to study the impact of background characteristics such as socio-economic background, gender, ethnicity and criminal history. The fact that jury members participate also allows us to examine whether political views influence decision-making in the courts. No previous study has been able to combine detailed register data with an experimental research design to answer this question in a credible way. Our research contribution will thus be of great importance for both the political debate and international research in this area.
Marton, Jan	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Uncertainty in external accounting	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 1 947 000 Capital markets put a price on investment-ready capital and have the function of allocating capital to the activities where it is most useful, thus contributing to growth and job creation. This contributes to growth and the creation of new jobs in the economy. For capital markets to function, it is essential that investors and lenders have access to high-quality information. The most important and systematic source of information is external accounting, such as annual reports. Uncertainty in reported figures can reduce the usefulness of financial statements for investors, which can lead to a poorer functioning of capital markets. There are several reasons why accounting uncertainty has become more important in recent years, including the internationalization of capital markets, the introduction of international accounting standards, financial crises and an increased emphasis on previously unregulated areas such as environmental accounting. This study focuses on the causes of accounting uncertainty and on measures that can be taken to reduce uncertainty. In terms of causes, it studies which items in the income statement and balance sheet show high uncertainty. Regarding measures, the study focuses on additional disclosures and the role of trust in companies and their management in reducing uncertainty. The results can provide guidance to accounting standard setters, reporting companies and users of accounting in the capital market.
Catasús, Bino	Stockholm University	Research School in Accounting - FIRE	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 2 280 000 Accounting is one of the largest teaching subjects in universities. However, it is almost impossible to recruit good teachers and researchers to the subject. We have experienced this ourselves as experts in Sweden and the other Nordic countries. In recent years, it has turned out that it has not been possible to fill professorships at Lund University and KTH. The description of the situation in Sweden is not unique; a similar situation exists in the Nordic countries, Europe and the USA. Over the next five-year period, there is a need for at least 50 new PhDs in accounting. The three universities (HHS, SU, UU) have a critical mass and can create a good environment for doctoral students. The faculty is internationally oriented and publishes regularly in the leading accounting journals. The research environments have succeeded in attracting research grants from funders with very high quality requirements. Since 2007, 23 doctoral students have completed their PhDs and 8 of these have received Wallander scholarships. Our ambition is to accept 6 doctoral students in the first year and then accept 3 doctoral students per year. Twice a year all doctoral students and supervisors will meet to discuss the doctoral students' thesis work. Two internationally leading researchers will be associated with the graduate school. The doctoral students at the graduate school will also be a natural part of the doctoral education at their home institutions.
Palmertz, Camilla		From the Volvo YCC concept car to inclusive business development	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 250 000 The publication describes how, over ten years, we have refined our knowledge from creating Volvo's YCC concept car, often called the girl car, to become a method used for business development in many other industries. We call the method LASS, which involves focusing on new customer groups where purchasing power is growing and including them in product development, marketing and sales. The book mentions a number of examples that we have worked with, including the idea boat All Aboard, interior solutions for a city bus on behalf of Volvo Buses, IHM Business School and the future development of Stenungsund's marina and guest harbor. The LASS method is also the basis for creating a national index where companies and authorities can measure how inclusive their products/services are from a customer/user perspective. The project to create a LASS index is funded by the Swedish Agency for Innovation VINNOVA. We also talk about how we created a unique conference where product development/innovation, marketing, sales & service and research are intertwined and the positive results this gives.
Kowalkowski, Christian	Linköping University of Technology	Value creation through innovative service systems in industrial networks	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 749 000 In order to maintain their competitiveness, traditional industrial companies are increasingly offering innovative, service-based solutions, which increases their dependence on and to other actors in the environment. From having worked mainly with a production logic, companies are thus working with a service logic, which is based on supporting the customer's value creation processes. The study focuses on the transformation that occurs when industrial companies change their business logic in this way. To develop knowledge about the consequences for both the individual company and its environment, both selling and buying companies as well as other key network actors will be studied. The study will primarily build on two theoretical fields that together can increase the understanding of the problem we intend to study: service marketing and the resource-based perspective on the firm. Since existing literature is mainly based on the selling firm's perspective, we also intend to incorporate a network perspective in order to understand the value creation system and the links between its actors. Both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used and networks in both the private and public sectors will be investigated. The application concerns support to further develop a research environment with industrial services research at Linköping University. The study will last four years and fund one PhD student.
Englund, Peter	Institute for Financial Research	Conference on insurance economics	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 400 000 SIFR organizes an annual conference on a theme in financial economics. 2015's theme is insurance economics. The conference is based on a dialog between academic economists and insurance industry representatives. We intend to highlight how the industry can adapt to new risks, e.g. in the climate area; how insurance contracts can be designed to make it easier for consumers to choose the right protection; how new products can be developed against risks that are not insurable today; how financial contracts can replace traditional insurance products; how the industry is affected by regulations, etc.
Åkerman, Anders	Stockholm University	The impact of the internet on income inequality, productivity and globalization	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 812 500 One of the biggest questions of our time is how accelerating technological developments are affecting the way our economies work. The internet, the 'third industrial revolution', is considered the latest example of a technology that has fundamentally changed modern economies and it is on the internet that this project focuses. The first part of the project concerns the impact on labour markets and the fact that information technology has been seen as particularly beneficial to highly educated workers. In most countries, the income gap between the low and high educated is widening, but it is difficult to know how much of this is due to technological development rather than, for example, increased globalization. And, to be more precise, what kind of education, experience and other characteristics are in demand when technology is renewed? We also examine the extent to which firm productivity is affected by technological change and how changes at the firm level affect the development of aggregate productivity in society. The second part concerns the extent to which globalization is increasing due to the spread of the latest of the most important technological changes in modern times, namely information technology. Will the role of geography in trade decline with the development of the Internet, leading to the so-called "death of distance"? The final part examines what determines how the internet spreads and when and why different firms or regions adopt new technologies at different rates.
Lönnroth, Johan		What are the current views of politicians and central bankers on central bank reforms?	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 60 000 The project involves interviews with leading Italian and Swedish politicians and central bankers, who were involved in deciding on the reforms that made central banks more independent of the political system, on how they view these reforms today. What were the benefits? What were the disadvantages? Is it time for new reforms? Having lived in both worlds - the world of economists and the world of politicians - I think I am well placed to understand both. I also know the politicians who were mainly responsible for the Swedish reform in 1998/1999. With the help of Lars EO Svensson and Lars Jonung, both of whom have promised to act as my reference persons, and with the help of a number of Italian economists I know, I believe I have a good chance of interviewing others as well. My intention is to compile the results and present them at ESHET's (European Society for the History of Economic Thought, of which I am a member) annual conference in Rome May 14-16, 2015.
Ruist, Joakim	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Eastern European immigration and the Swedish economy	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 477 000 The eastward enlargement of the EU in 2004 and 2007 is the only example in modern times of the introduction of free movement of labor between countries with such widely differing income levels. The economic consequences of the ensuing migration have been a hot topic of political discussion in several of the old EU countries since then. Of these countries, Sweden was the only one that did not introduce temporary restrictions on the access of new EU citizens to the labor market and welfare system in either 2004 or 2007. Sweden is therefore uniquely placed to explore the economic consequences already now. Previous research has reported on migrants' employment, income, benefit receipt and short-term impact on the public sector. However, these early results are static averages of more experienced migrants and a significant proportion of newly arrived inexperienced migrants. They are therefore likely to be misleading for the longer-term situation. This project uses register data where migrants are followed for up to ten years to study income assimilation and selective re-migration and thus the long-term economic consequences of migration. The following five sub-questions are answered: 1. How long do migrants stay? 2. do the economically more or less successful stay longer, i.e. is there positive or negative selection in return migration? 3. how does income and benefit receipt evolve over time for those who stay? 4. What is the impact of boom/bust cycles on 1-3? 5. What are the likely long-term consequences for Sweden's public sector?
Umans, Timurs	Kristianstad University	Multicultural management teams in Swedish companies	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 1 260 000 Multicultural competence in business is emphasized by researchers, politicians and business representatives, but how does a multicultural management team actually work? If they work at all, what determines whether a multicultural management team has a positive or negative impact on companies? Management teams in Europe are becoming increasingly multicultural. However, compared to the rest of Europe, multicultural management teams in Sweden are a relatively new phenomenon. Research exists on management teams from a general diversity perspective, but relatively little on cultural diversity. This project aims to generate new relevant knowledge about this phenomenon. Previous research shows ambiguous results and the research area is theoretically fragmented, indicating unexplored factors that affect the consequences of a multicultural management team. The project intends to explore such factors via case studies and statistical analysis with a specific focus on management team processes. The contribution will be theory development and new empirical knowledge about the relationships between the functioning of multicultural management teams in Sweden and their effects on companies. We also aim to generate practical knowledge about how companies can manage multicultural management teams and create opportunities for the companies. The research group has a large network of contacts in Swedish management teams, has good experience of both qualitative and quantitative analysis, and is well established in the international research community.
Rydqvist, Kristian	Stockholm School of Economics	Historical share price and accounting database	Economy	2014	Amount granted: 850 000 SEK Swedish share price and accounting data are available in the Finda database from 1979 onwards. The purpose of this project is to update the Finda database back to 1912. The work on collecting daily share prices and turnover figures is ongoing and so far covers 25 years (1950, 1952, 1954 and 1957-1978). This project involves scanning the School of Economics' historical collection of annual reports from listed companies 1912-1278. The Center for Business History will carry out the actual scanning. When digital copies are available, the work of manually coding accounting information in Findata can begin.
Berggren, Niclas	Institute for Business Research	Trust, tolerance and growth - new methods to find causal links	Economy	2014	Amount granted: SEK 2 440 400 It is not a given that an economy will function well and contribute to increased prosperity. In recent years, economists have recognized that laws and regulations are important and affect people's willingness and ability to behave productively. "Soft" factors are now also analyzed by economists, who research morals and norms, as well as social attitudes such as trust and tolerance. People's views on their own actions and on other people can be of great economic importance. For example, honesty and trustworthiness can stimulate economic growth by enabling innovative risk-taking and smooth transactions. This project studies precisely how such cultural and social factors have an economic impact. Particular emphasis is placed on trying to establish causal relationships, i.e. what causes what in society. For example, there is much evidence that social trust leads to economic growth, but it is also possible that economic growth promotes trust in a society. Methodologically, it is often difficult to determine which is the case, but it is of great importance to clarify the nature of the causal relationship, not least to be able to give more precise advice to economic policy makers on how they should design policy. In three sub-projects, we explore how individuals' norms are shaped and how norms affect their choices, as well as the relationships between norms, institutions, and economic outcomes at the country level. In each sub-project, we use a newly developed methodology that allows us to establish causal relationships.
Sundberg, Carl Johan	Karolinska Institute	Healthcare and business management for future doctors (Master's degree)	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 2 000 000 The proposed Master's degree in Healthcare and Business Management aims to prepare future physicians to lead, improve and influence patient health and societal well-being beyond direct patient care. To be effective and useful in this future role, students must develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes in a number of knowledge areas in parallel with clinical studies. Specifically, this means combining medical knowledge with organizational, financial and management/leadership skills to improve human health and well-being. The programme is aimed exclusively at students in national medical programmes with a genuine interest in contributing to the development and management of public and private healthcare and biomedical industry. The programme recognises interprofessional collaboration as a cornerstone of improved and patient-centred care and develops students' leadership and transprofessional collaboration skills. Doctors with a solid knowledge base in economics and management/leadership are in short supply in Sweden. Students who complete the new two-year master's program and who gradually build new knowledge and skills will be able to improve the competitiveness of healthcare, society and companies.
Söderlund, Magnus	Stockholm School of Economics	Center of excellence for marketing research at the Stockholm School of Economics.	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 2 280 092 The project aims to develop a strong research environment, a center of excellence (CoE), for marketing research at the Stockholm School of Economics (HHS). Our time horizon is relatively long term, we believe that ten years are needed to achieve this. The environment we seek, which is organizationally based at the Center for Consumer Marketing (CCM), one of the departments at HHS, is characterized by (1) high quality publications, (2) good training of PhD and undergraduate students, (3) high attractiveness in the outside world (e.g. among potential PhD students, conference organizers and the mass media), (4) high quality objectives, (5) strong research leaders, (6) good ability to communicate research, (7) good research infrastructure, and (8) a critical mass of researchers (not too few, but not too many) who complement each other within a defined subject area. The academic subject in question is marketing, with particular emphasis on the part of the subject known internationally as "consumer behavior", an area where the objects of study are how consumers acquire, use and dispose of products (both goods and services). The approach in CCM's research is based on concrete tests, typically with an experimental method, where people are exposed to and come into contact with different marketing expressions (e.g. advertisements or different elements in a shop environment).
Carpenters, Pelle	The Royal Library	Light and freedom as a livelihood - 19th century advertising	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 500 000 Any change in media history is usually a commercially driven search for ever new markets, audiences and consumers. This also applies to the history of the press, especially during the 19th century when modern industrial Sweden was emerging. The columns of the newspapers constitute the infrastructure in which the economy takes place, and in which economic policy discussions are conducted. The self-image of the press is of course quite different. The newspaper has long been the guarantor of democracy and the free exchange of opinions. But in reality, the daily press is as dependent on steady income as any other company. The medium's message is nothing more than its advertising. The project involves the digitization of one million pages of Swedish daily press from the 19th century and is divided into two separate parts. One part is done in collaboration with the Gothenburg University Library and focuses on the digitization of specific Gothenburg press during the 19th century. The second part is done in collaboration with the Center for Business History and is based on the 19th century press as a kind of advertising magazine. Press history has always been a story about money, and it is only by adopting a clear economic-historical perspective that the actual forms and contours of the daily press in the 19th century emerge. In digital form, with OCR-readable pages for lightning-fast textual searches, no researcher will be able to escape this advertising-economic aspect of press history.
Rudholm, Niklas	Trade Research Institute	Analysis of asymmetries in the price formation process in the Swedish consumer market for electricity	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 050 000 The major electricity market reform of 1996 aimed to create more favourable conditions for business start-ups, competition and more efficient use of resources in the electricity production and trading sectors. However, in direct contrast to these ambitions, the number of electricity trading companies has recently decreased substantially, as illustrated by the 2/3 market share of the three dominant energy groups. As electricity prices have steadily increased since the 1990s, the media and consumers have demonstrated increasingly widespread dissatisfaction. Through a unique access to all electricity market companies' prices since 2008, this project aims to analyze competition and efficiency in the electricity market through so-called asymmetric price transmission models. The primary research question is to analyze whether electricity trading companies have a greater propensity (both in terms of level and time) to raise customers' electricity prices after producer price increases on Nord Pool, compared to the propensity to lower consumers' electricity prices after corresponding producer price reductions on Nord Pool. This means that the electricity trading companies, at the expense of consumers, take a larger share of the margin than the risk premium justifies. However, as long as customer mobility (in terms of the propensity to switch to a cheaper electricity trading company) is low, there are limited incentives for the larger electricity trading companies to compete on price to any significant extent - and the inefficiencies can therefore be allowed to continue.
Sandgren, Fredrik	Uppsala University	Innovation and institutional change in Swedish goods trade 1750-2010	Economy	2012	Amount granted: 493 000 SEK The project will analyze the transformation of the Swedish trade in goods. Goods trade, i.e. wholesale and retail trade, is an important sector whose history has not been written in a comprehensive way. The focus is on institutional change and important innovations during the period 1750-2010. By institutions I mean legislation, but also the more informal agreements and rules that have influenced trade in goods and its conditions. Regarding innovations, i.e. new technologies and new forms of organization, I will investigate how general innovations such as cars, telephones, computers, factories, Taylorism have affected the trade in goods. An important task is also to investigate how new ways of conducting trade in goods such as fixed stores, department stores, self-service, single-level warehouses, etc. have been introduced and spread within the Swedish trade in goods. The major shifts in terms of institutions and innovations that I identify will form the basis for the periodization. Much is known about the history of goods trade. However, much of this knowledge is scattered across many different books and essays and needs to be compiled. But there are also a lot of knowledge gaps that need to be filled by primary research. In addition to knowing more about the entire period 1750-1900, we also need to find out more about the development of the 20th century in terms of wholesale trade, specialist trade and the early activities of trade associations.
Nygren, Bitte	University of Gothenburg School of Design & Crafts	Endowed Chair in Design Management - operating grants 2012 and 2013	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 3 000 000
Persson, Torsten	Stockholm University	Politicians in proportional electoral systems	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 2 062 500 The overall goal of the project is to develop theoretical models for how the selection of politicians works in proportional electoral systems. These models will then be tested empirically on unique Swedish data. The selection of politicians takes place to the ballot, to the higher seats on the ballot, and to the more influential positions in the political hierarchy. We will answer five main questions regarding how this process works, namely how the selection is affected by 1) formal institutions in the proportional electoral system, 2) external factors such as competition between political parties and media coverage, 3) the characteristics of party leaders and 4) private networks between politicians. In addition, we will analyze how the policies implemented are affected by the end product of selection, i.e. the socio-economic composition of the elected representatives. Today, there is a lack of both useful theoretical models and empirical studies on these issues. Our scientific contributions come from both the theoretical and empirical side. The research group has unique expertise in developing theoretical models through the participation of two of the world's leading researchers in political economy, people who have participated in the development of several of the most widely used models in the field today. On the empirical side, important contributions will be made using the most detailed data set of elected and non-elected politicians ever assembled.
Lundgren, Tommy	Umeå University	On the Economics of Corporate Social Responsibility	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 876 000 Since the publication of the 1987 report Our Common Future by the World Commission on Environment and Development, the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development have become increasingly prominent in both public and academic debate. Much of the discussion on sustainability has been devoted to how companies can contribute to sustainable development, i.e. what is usually referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Studies on CSR have grown into an extensive research area over the last 20 years, mainly in the disciplines of management and business administration, but also to some extent in economics. A significant part of the empirical research deals with the relationship between CSR and financial performance. To some extent, there are also theoretical analyses of the economic drivers and effects of CSR, but this research is still in its infancy; further theoretical studies in combination with econometric analysis are needed to better understand the mechanisms that drive CSR and the relationships with a number of fundamental economic aspects. Specifically, in the context of CSR, in six well-defined sub-projects we want to further investigate the role of shareholder preferences, uncertainty, causality, cost of capital, risk and policy/regulation.
Maican, Florin	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Competition in grocery retailing	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 100 000 Grocery shopping constitutes a large part of private consumption. Together with large stores in external locations, there is currently a trend towards further development of smaller grocery stores that are geographically close to the consumer. The overall aim of the research project is to make a dynamic analysis of demand and market structure in the Swedish grocery trade. We use newly developed models and methods with deep theoretical grounding and take into account that stores differ in size, location and service level. The first part consists of a detailed analysis of consumers' choice and valuation of different store formats from a geographical perspective. The second part deals with firms' decisions and costs to establish, reallocate and remove stores from local markets. A unique combination of databases covering all grocery stores in Sweden during the period 2001-2010 will be used. A central contribution of the research project is that we simulate the development of the grocery market as a result of a number of hypothetical changes such as a changed number of store formats and a more liberal regulation of new establishments. The project contributes to the international research front by using models based on economic theory together with newly developed statistical methods to analyze strategic interaction between firms.
Johansson Sköldberg, Ulla	University of Gothenburg GRI	The encounter between art and entrepreneurship. A close study of projects in the VG region	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 909 000 We want to study the encounter between art/design and business in three projects. We intend to build a bridge between the subjects "Design Management" and "Art & Management" which are both very close and different in nature. We want to reflect more theoretically based on three concrete projects: 1. "100 offices" is a project that involves 100 industrial companies/organizations with unused spaces renting them out for "0 rate" to artists in need of an office or studio. No obligations are attached to the contract. However, there are hopes for an interesting dialog during the common coffee and lunch hours. It is these hopes and what happens to them that we will study. 2. Guest professor Mary Jo Hatch, together with the partnership unit at the Gothenburg School of Economics, has invited researching artists from GU to a dialog with business leaders. She is interested in the similarities between the problems that artists and business leaders deal with. In this project we want to follow what happens and interpret the situation together with Mary Jo Hatch. 3. process management of creative projects and matchmaking between companies and designers/artists. We want to compare the way SVID works with process management of design projects with the way Tillt processes and handles matchmaking of artists.
Kallifatides, Mark	Stockholm School of Economics, SIR	Institutional business ownership	Economy	2012	Amount awarded: SEK 3 130 000 Institutional investors' formal opportunity and real willingness or ability to exercise active or passive control power is likely to be of crucial importance for the supply of capital to businesses, the quality of corporate governance and thus the development of the economy, as this category of shareholder is the dominant and growing category in the global capital market. Institutional investors have long-term mandates. It is theoretically reasonable for them to invest long-term even in illiquid assets and also to participate actively in the governance of individual companies. Studies show that a broad category of institutional investors internationally have been more passive and risk-averse than might have been expected. Legislation, governance models and theoretical ideas have probably largely driven this. With the global crisis, it is reasonable to expect that conditions for institutional capital will be renegotiated internationally. The project intends to follow developments in the Nordic countries, with a focus on the large Swedish institutional investors. What are the effects on corporate governance and thus entrepreneurship of this shareholder category's active or passive efforts? We intend to qualitatively study regulatory processes, institutional minority ownership and control ownership in three sub-studies. The program aims to describe, explain and critically reflect on the role of institutional investors in the national economy and in the Swedish innovation system on a more stable empirical basis.
Källblad, Sigrid		Optimal portfolio allocation under consideration of different horizons and model uncertainty respectively	Economy	2012	Amount granted: 135 000 SEK The thesis deals with optimal portfolio composition under different conditions. Partly based on the question of how the consideration of different time horizons affects the same, and partly based on the assumption that the underlying market model is not completely known and that model uncertainty must also be taken into account.
Holmlid, Stefan	Linköping University of Technology	Innovation environments' use of and approach to design in productization processes	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 898 000 Over the past decade, design as a concept has become more prominent in the context of research and debate on innovation. An example of this is the success of Apple's smart phones, where design and technological innovation went hand in hand to produce the touch-sensitive screens. In the management-related literature, the concept of "design thinking" has emerged as a way of capturing a new relationship between design and management. In the design-related literature, concepts such as "innovation in meaning" have instead taken their place as a description of what kind of innovations design contributes. Much of the previous research focuses primarily on corporate innovations and the role design can play in these contexts, and has contributed theories, empirical studies and actionable knowledge. However, we currently know less about how design can play a role for the actors in the innovation system that are close to, or partly constitute, actors close to basic research. The purpose of this project is to contribute knowledge about how design can contribute to the transformation from research-based ideas to products on a market.
Heyman, Fredrik	Institute for Business Research	Globalization, employment and wages	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 2 523 000 It is no exaggeration to say that the globalization process that Sweden is currently undergoing is of historic proportions. The project aims to empirically investigate the labor market effects of increased international integration and is based on new economic theory with heterogeneous firms and heterogeneous labor force. Traditional trade theory assumes that the labor market is completely flexible, resulting in full employment. More recent theory instead emphasizes that wages are sticky and that the matching process between workers and employers can lead to long-term unemployment. Furthermore, this work suggests that the impact on a particular type of worker, e.g. in terms of wage changes, may differ depending on the type of firm. For example, increased globalization may lead to higher wages for the type of worker whose qualifications best match the firm's profile. These recent theoretical works thus result in a number of different hypotheses about internationalization and labor market effects that we intend to investigate empirically using Swedish data. The empirical analysis is based on a large data set of Swedish workers that can be matched with data on Swedish firms. For example, we examine the wage and employment effects of increased internationalization for different types of workers and in different types of firms.
Hidefjäll, Patrik	Karolinska Institute	How do healthcare innovation systems affect the ability of innovations to develop and spread?	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 810 000 The initiatives targeting Swedish healthcare and medical technologies in recent years have been essentially limited to supporting the early idea generation process. But what happens next? Does the generation of innovations also lead to the creation of new successful Swedish medical technology companies and do the innovations result in improved care at lower costs? To answer these questions, we want to identify and study a wide range of medical technology innovations of varying commercial success over the last 15 years. A survey is planned to be sent to identified industry and healthcare stakeholders. Case studies will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a selection of identified innovations and the impact of the healthcare innovation system on the development of the innovation. The healthcare innovation system is defined as the supporting (in the form of knowledge, resources, etc.) and selecting (market, procurement, evaluation) mechanisms that contribute to the creation of cost-effective innovations. We intend to identify whether cost-effective innovations have had greater survival in the health care system than those innovations that have been deemed ineffective. The results of the study are expected to give us better insight into the supportive and selective effects of the Swedish health care sector's innovation system on an innovation and lead to further theoretical development of the innovation system approach.
Fellman, Susanna	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Cartels and trade policy: international agreements, foreign companies and liberalization	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 058 750 Historical research on cartel and competition policy has experienced a boom. One reason is the availability of a unique source material, namely the cartel registers that many countries maintained during the post-war period in order to control cartels and to prevent 'abuse'. The Swedish register is used in a research project at the Gothenburg School of Economics. The main objective is to study issues related to (i) the control and monitoring of international cartel agreements and, to (ii) competition policy and free trade efforts in the post-war period. International agreements had to be registered if they had an effect on the domestic market and the Swedish register contains about 350 agreements involving foreign companies. Many of the international cartel agreements were Nordic. Among other things, changes in the ownership structure of the Swedish business sector are studied, as well as the foreign companies' strategy towards Swedish cartels. Another problem area is the authorities' actions as a result of free trade agreements. For example, what pressure did EFTA cooperation put on Nordic cartel cooperation, and how did the authorities relate to international cartels as pressure to deal with anti-competitive agreements increased? What was the importance of cooperation between the Nordic competition authorities (annual Nordic meetings)? And how did the cartels respond to the changes?
Fellman, Susanna	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	The role of trading houses on the credit market in Gothenburg in the 19th century	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 815 000 As the Swedish economy changed in the 19th century, so did the credit market. There was no uniform credit market in Sweden at the time, but it was divided into several locations, with Stockholm and Gothenburg being the most important. One player on the credit market was the trading houses. Their role on the credit market in Gothenburg in the 19th century is the subject of this study. The trading houses' lending was large and even generated greater profits than the trading activities. Nor did the role of the Gothenburg trading houses on the credit market disappear as the modern banking system was established. In other cities, the banks took over the role of the trading houses. Gothenburg's trading houses thus deviate from the national pattern. Was this due to a stronger link to international capital markets among the trading houses? Another important aspect is the relationship between the trading houses' lending to small businesses. In other source material, trading houses appear as important lenders to artisans. The study will increase the understanding of how small entrepreneurs financed their activities. Since the lending of the trading houses had a clear connection with trade in and out of Gothenburg, the questions will be placed in a larger international context. The project, which is linked to a project on informal and formal credit markets in Gothenburg, is important for obtaining an overall picture of the credit markets during this period.
Gullstrand, Joakim	Lund University	The company's international links, its organization and the role of entrepreneurship and innovation	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 680 000 The project builds on the international trade literature that studies the export and import decisions of firms. In brief, this literature shows that relatively few firms export and that the firms that enter the international market are the most productive. The literature explains this pattern by saying that only productive firms can pay the costs of entering the international market. In other words, the complex pattern of firms' international linkages has been explained by a black box, as productivity measures are affected by everything from differences in product quality, product mix, management capabilities, organizational form, to capital intensity and economies of scale. The main challenge for future research in international trade is to open up this box to explain in detail what matters when firms make their trade decisions. In particular, this is of importance for the design of different policy measures implemented to strengthen firms' opportunities in the global market. It will otherwise be difficult to design policies and predict their effects if this black box is not opened. The aim of this project is thus to identify the factors underlying firms' trade decisions, and three issues in particular will be highlighted: how firms organize the links and the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in these links.
Cramér, Per	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Environmental aid Centre for International Business Studies	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 4 500 000 The Centre for International Business Studies at the University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law (CIBS) conducts research on different aspects of the internationalization process of business. The group consists of four professors, two visiting professors, two associate professors, eight post-doctoral researchers and four doctoral students. The main part of the activity is currently carried out within the joint program "International Business Research in an Era of Global Spatial Reconfiguration - Corporate Restructuring in the Global Automotive Industry - The Disinvestments of GM and Ford and the Entry of China" which was originally funded in 2010. The aim is to investigate the takeover of Volvo Car Corp. by the Chinese company Geely, and its effects on subcontracting and distribution systems, markets, global production networks, R&D, and clashes between different management cultures. Furthermore, the disintegration process from Ford is studied, i.e. how production systems and management structures change when a company changes its main owner, as well as the external framework for business activities in China, in the form of direct investment policy, and other institutional conditions at national, regional and local level. Researchers from Germany and Finland also participate in the program as a reference group. A total of 23 researchers are now active in different parts of the program. CIBS is an important strategic part of the School's continued development.
Cramér, Per	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Endowed Chair in Business History - operating grant 2012 and 2013	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 3 000 000 Operating appropriations for the 2012 funding of the endowed chair in Business History held by Professor Susanna Fellman.
Ekström, Karin M.	University of Borås	Market orientation of art museums - a study on marketing and increasing accessibility	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 000 000 Marketing, once considered a dirty word in the arts, is now seen as a legitimate tool to enrich and deepen the experience of museum visitors. The number of museums has increased, including art museums. From a social sustainability perspective, it is important to attract new visitors to museums. From a focus on objects and collections, museums have become increasingly visitor-oriented. The purpose of the project is to study how a market-oriented perspective is expressed in art museums in Sweden. How do they work with marketing, event activities and visitor orientation strategically as well as operationally? How is it perceived by museum directors, curators and other staff? How do art museums work to increase the number of visitors and to become more accessible to a broader target group? The study also aims to develop theory on the marketing of culture and cultural consumption. The project is related to research on consumer culture, material culture and museum studies, marketing and customer orientation studies. The study is based on ethnographic methods in the form of long interviews and observations. Museum directors, curators, event managers, marketing managers and other staff are interviewed at three art museums in Sweden. Observations are made of ongoing exhibitions and events. Visitors and non-visitors are also interviewed to understand how art museums can be made more accessible.
Calmfors, Lars	Stockholm University	Can economic self-interest explain negative attitudes towards trade competition?	Economy	2012	Amount granted: 128 333 SEK A number of labor market conflicts related to low-wage competition with posted workers have been highlighted in the public debate across the EU Member States. Judging from the debate, most citizens seem to have a more negative attitude towards low-wage competition in the import of services than in the import of goods. This project aims to analyze how attitudes towards different forms of foreign trade relate to individuals' economic self-interest by testing how well the short-term and long-term trade theory models can explain an individual's attitude. The analysis in this project will be based on data from a survey study (from 2007) of attitudinal data collected through interview surveys and as yet unpublished data from a follow-up survey (from 2011). This extensive data set, collected for other purposes, provides a unique opportunity to contribute to the empirical political economy literature on trade policy and in particular to the scarce empirical literature on the specific factor model. But above all, it is important to learn more about attitudes towards trade competition in the light of labor market conflicts that hinder deeper integration of European markets.
Collin, Sven-Olof	Linnaeus University	Board remuneration: a survey of board remuneration in Swedish listed companies	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 774 200 The project aims to identify and explain the level and form of board remuneration of listed companies and to study its possible effects on the company. While CEO remuneration has been studied extensively, both by researchers and by commentators, board remuneration has been ignored. Today, there are signs that remuneration is changing, perhaps as a result of the profound changes in the tasks of the board of directors since the early 1990s, and perhaps inspired by the US and the UK. It is therefore empirically, theoretically and practically relevant to conduct a survey today. Previous studies, mainly from the US and the UK, have not sought the experiences and thoughts of practitioners about remuneration, which is why our knowledge of Swedish remuneration is non-existent, and our theoretical knowledge has only been developed within theory and not with the help of practice. The method for the survey will therefore be to first gather insights from practice through interviews with board chairs, compensation committee chairs and reward consultants. Then the theory that will guide the mapping and the explanatory study will be developed. In doing so, I hope that the project will not only make an empirical and theoretical contribution, but also bring insights on board remuneration back into practice.
Blomberg, Jesper	Stockholm School of Economics	Risk management in investment banking: organization of risk taking, risk control and risk production	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 265 500 To understand risk in any financial product or service, you need to understand how that risk is created. In investment banking, financial risks are created, managed and controlled. As bankers, traders, brokers and analysts shape primary markets for stocks and secondary markets for securities, they also create financial risks. Despite increased regulation, as well as banks' sharply increased investment in risk control and compliance functions, there is a lack of systematic knowledge about how regulation and control systems affect risk-taking in practice. To increase our understanding of how financial risks are created, we need to study investment banking practices in terms of risk-taking and risk control, and especially how these relate to each other. With an "inside-out" approach, we will investigate what and how the rapidly growing risk control and compliance functions within investment banking organizations (different types of banks) affect the same organizations' risk taking. Through primarily ethnographic observation, the study will investigate 1) If, how, and why risk-taking (mainly by bankers and traders, but also brokers and analysts) is affected by the increasingly comprehensive risk control systems. 2) How the production of risk in investment banking affects the risk-taking of other actors within and outside the financial sector. The expected results of the study have significant relevance for the financial sector, for financial consumers, and for regulatory and supervisory bodies.
Anderson, Anders	Institute for Financial Research	Rethinking Beta in Asset Management	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 300 000 For nine years, the Swedish Institute for Financial Research (SIFR) has successfully organized an annual conference on various themes in financial economics in Stockholm. Leading international researchers in each field are invited to present the latest findings in their respective research areas. The conference runs for two days, with the first day aimed at practitioners in the financial sector. The second day is mainly aimed at academics, and provides an opportunity for Swedish researchers to take part in cutting-edge research in financial economics. The format has proved to be highly appreciated by both target groups, and has become a natural platform for connecting academics and practitioners in the financial market. This year's conference is intended to address the latest findings in theoretical as well as practical asset management.
Andersson, Per	Stockholm School of Economics	The mobile phone, service innovations and the shaping of new markets	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 140 000 Mobile phones are playing an increasingly central role in people's private and professional lives. At the same time, the development of new mobile services has also taken a very central role in the overall digital service development. This project focuses on the links between the development of new mobile services, service innovation processes and the creation of new markets. Special interest is given to new mobile services and innovation processes with a potential to change market structures. These include new mobile payment services involving a variety of market players: mobile phone companies, bank and card companies, retailers and others. These and other new mobile services, often linked to new mobile technologies and standards, are creating new patterns of competition and cooperation in the market. They are also driving entrepreneurship in markets and the creation of entirely new businesses. This project aims to develop knowledge on how new mobile services and service innovation processes are linked to the formation of new markets and industrial structures.
Axelsson, Björn	Stockholm School of Economics	Supporting the maintenance and development of a trade-related research environment	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 935 000 Continued support for a research environment with trade-relevant research at the Stockholm School of Economics. This support has varied over time, but for a number of years it has amounted to a volume equivalent to covering 75 percent of the living expenses of three doctoral students and two postdocs, including overheads. First, we report on how the previous year's grant was used and some important ideas behind the pattern shown. It then highlights some of the developments in four programs and three separate projects. The programs are: a) Solution Business, b) Sustainable Business, c) Service Innovation, d) International Retailing. The projects covered are: a) Open Books, b) Pricing as an organizational issue. The highlighting indicates the projects and researchers supported and what has been achieved. However, it also indicates a number of interesting other and future projects that are planned. Where specific researchers are already involved, their names and the funding applied for are indicated. In other cases, the type of people (doctoral students, PhDs) intended to be associated with the research in question is indicated.
Aldman, Lili-Ann		Consumer credit in Gothenburg and Stockholm, 1650-1870	Economy	2012	Amount granted: SEK 1 240 000 The key for both trade and production is that there are consumers willing to buy their goods and services. Consumption is closely linked to a country's economic growth. What goods are demanded and when has always been linked to the financial resources and confidence of customers. It is likely that the credit and credit terms offered during a given period of time have also played a role. The use or non-use of consumer credit has often been controversial, as it has both positive and negative effects. One way to stimulate consumption that is used today is to offer potential customers credit. The positive effect is that the customer can spread their consumption expenditure over time and trade and production receive regular income. The downside is that some people will buy more than they can afford. But what was it like before the 20th century? The overall purpose of the project is to study whether there is a connection between the emergence and changes in consumer credit and credit conditions, with the political and consumption changes that took place during the period 1650-1870. The study is limited to Gothenburg and Stockholm and the surrounding area. The main questions are: Can the emergence of new, changed credits or credit conditions explain the changes in consumption? Were consumption credits and conditions affected or influenced by international crises and political transitions? What was the share of consumption accounted for by credit in each period?
Söderlund, Magnus	Stockholm School of Economics	Center of Excellence for Marketing Research at the Stockholm School of Economics.	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 339 945 The project aims to develop a strong research environment, a Center of Excellence (CoE), for marketing research at the Stockholm School of Economics (HHS). Our time horizon is relatively long-term, we believe that ten years are needed to achieve this. The environment that we strive for, which organizationally has its platform at the Center for Consumer Marketing (CCM), one of the departments at HHS, is characterized by, among other things, (1) high quality publications, (2) good education of doctoral and undergraduate students, (3) high attractiveness in the outside world (e.g. among potential doctoral students, conference organizers and the mass media), (4) high quality objectives, (5) strong research leaders, (6) good ability to communicate research, (7) good research infrastructure, and (8) a critical mass of researchers (not too few, but not too many) who complement each other within a defined subject area. The academic subject in question is marketing, with particular emphasis on the part of the subject known internationally as "consumer behavior", an area where the objects of study are how consumers acquire, use and dispose of products (both goods and services). The approach in CCM's research is to use quantitative data, typically collected through experiments where people are exposed to different marketing expressions (e.g. advertisements or elements in a retail environment).
Schriber, Svante	Stockholm School of Economics	Companies with acquisition experience	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 186 000 Mergers and acquisitions (hereafter: M&A) change the ownership of companies on an almost daily basis. The large amounts of money involved are usually justified by the pursuit of increased profitability, for example through new product development skills, improved sales channels or increased manufacturing capacity. At the same time, research shows that acquisitions often fail. One branch of acquisition research has highlighted the importance of experience: that firms that are able to learn from previous acquisitions should be more successful in selecting, pricing and integrating acquisition candidates. However, existing theory is still not developed regarding which organizational conditions in the firms that favor or inhibit the accumulation of such experience. The purpose of this proposed project is therefore to develop theories on how acquisition experience is built up in acquisition-intensive firms. Since experience and experience building are organizational and sometimes unconscious processes, the project is conducted as a qualitative, comparative study based on interviews and observations. Between eight and twelve acquisition-intensive Swedish companies will be studied in order to achieve sufficient depth and spread in the results. The project is expected to make clear contributions to existing research. The results are also expected to be highly relevant for the ability of acquisition-intensive firms to succeed in later acquisitions, and thus also provide insights useful for firms that make fewer acquisitions.
Sjölander, Per	Trade Research Institute	Analysis of asymmetric margins in the price formation process in the Swedish fixed income market	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 445 500 While the bulk of financial efficiency and competition research tends to conclude that there is a relatively sound price formation process in most of our domestic financial markets, this view is certainly not unchallenged in the business press and the media in general. It is often argued that the oligopoly structures of the dominant market players (often in the form of the big banks) lead to competitive restrictions in the market. According to SKI, despite a lower level of customer satisfaction with the major banks compared to other banks, only about 3% of consumers switch banks per year. Although the dominance of the major banks has declined somewhat, the passive customer mobility of consumers means that the incentives of the major market players for strong price competition are relatively low. The project therefore unconditionally investigates whether there is a greater propensity for banks to raise customers' mortgage rates (both in terms of level and time) after borrowing cost increases, compared to the propensity to lower mortgage rates after corresponding borrowing cost reductions. Through a unique dataset, we measure banks' marginal borrowing costs, whereas the risk premium is difficult to measure. Changes in the risk premium can justify keeping mortgages unchanged despite repo or interbank rate cuts, but our new asymmetry method takes into account the level of the risk premium. For a large set of interest rates, times, frequencies and methods, we analyze whether banks charge a justified risk margin in addition to the marginal cost.
Svensson, Roger	Institute for Business Research	Coinage and monetary policy in medieval Europe and Scandinavia	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 210 000 The project aims to analyze coin systems and monetary policy in medieval Europe and Scandinavia. The focus is on the choice between time-limited and long-lived coins in relatively undeveloped economies where coins began to be used as a means of transaction and a measure of value by large parts of the population. Time-limited coins meant that the mint master periodically invalidated the old coins, which had to be exchanged for new coins for a fee. The project analyzes the consequences of the choice of coinage system for coin deterioration, economic activity and uncertainty. In particular, coins in the form of so-called one-sided bracteates will be analyzed and how they relate to time-limited coins. A simple theoretical model will be built and tested on the Scandinavian countries during the Middle Ages. Existing literature on the subject has neither used: 1) economic theory to understand monetary policy and the function of money nor 2) statistical methods to analyze treasure finds. Nor has previous Swedish literature linked the Swedish medieval coins to the international research literature. This project applies all three of these methods. It should be emphasized that the project is interdisciplinary: existing literature and scientific methods in economics, economic history, numismatics and archaeology will be used and applied.
Melin, Frans	Lund University	From market orientation to brand orientation - a new path to growth and profitability?	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 3 720 000 Strong brands are not something you get, but something you earn. Therefore, as more and more companies compete on the basis of brands, the ability to build strong brands comes into focus. A significant part of the research on this capability is conducted within the framework of brand orientation, a concept coined in the early 1990s by researchers at the Lund University School of Economics. Today, brand orientation has emerged as an interesting alternative to market orientation. But the question is whether these approaches should be regarded as competing or complementary? This question is the basis for the overall purpose of this research project, namely to increase knowledge about similarities and differences between market orientation and brand orientation and the effects of these approaches on growth and profitability. Emphasis will also be placed on examining how firms organize their branding efforts and the design of management and reward systems. The expected contributions are an increased understanding of how brand orientation as an overall corporate philosophy and process can contribute to building strong brands and creating sustainable profitability. Our research will be the first to make use of longitudinal studies and thus we have the potential to make a unique contribution regarding profitability relationships that have so far only been studied in cross-sectional studies.
Mähring, Magnus	Stockholm School of Economics	Lean Practices and Information Technology: Exploring the Contradiction	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 086 500 Two of the most common ways to streamline operations today are the introduction of Lean and making investments in information technology (IT). While companies have long been investing in IT, Lean has now become an established option. However, lean and IT are not mutually exclusive. Lean is based on continuous, local and often small-scale change, while IT implementation is often based on single, centralized and large-scale investments. Once the new information systems are implemented, IT tends to make processes rigid and difficult to change. Therefore, companies that are good at Lean often use less IT support for the core operational processes, or they use IT differently than most other companies. Our study explores this contradiction and how it can be overcome. The project is exploratory and is guided by the following four questions: (1) How does the tension between Lean and the use of IT manifest itself in practice? (2) In what ways do organizations using Lean deal with these challenges and how do they overcome them? (3) How can the relationship between Lean and IT be characterized and understood theoretically? (4) How can organizations use IT resources to support Lean practically? The research team has extensive experience in both Lean and IT implementation. The aim is to fill the knowledge gap between these two areas and to produce academic research at international level in this important and so far only marginally researched area.
Lönnroth, Cornelia	Gothenburg City Museum	Heads or tails. Different sides of coins and credits in 19th century Gothenburg	Economy	2011	Amount awarded: SEK 5 265 500 During the 19th century the city of Gothenburg was one of the most expansive in northern Europe and its economic position was strengthened. This is reflected in the City Museum's unique collection of coins and medals that began to build up during the period, which has never been shown to the public due to the lack of secure facilities. Remarkably, the city's 19th century economic history has also been poorly treated. The project will combine the coins, banknotes and other objects related to economic conditions with a study of the dramatic social transformation of the 19th century linked to industrialization. As a result of the project, the unique collection will be organized and digitized, making it accessible to everyone. The research on Gothenburg's 19th century contributes with a new picture of one of the most eventful phases in the city's history. Above all, the university and the City Museum will collaborate to work in completely new ways with both research issues and museum collections. It will be a lively collaboration with workshops for invited specialists, lectures for the public, which opens the door to a project that becomes a lively end product and continues to develop. A coin, a banknote or a share certificate that can be supplemented with names of people, something about their lives, perhaps an image and how the individual was and is dependent on the world economy will always be topical issues, regardless of boom or bust.
Lund, Ragnar	Stockholm University	Private sponsorship of culture and sports	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 318 000 Private companies are increasingly contributing to social empowerment activities by sponsoring culture and sport. Sponsorship partnerships have become important both as a marketing activity and as a funding model for culture and sport. Despite this, there is relatively little research on collaboration between sponsorship partners. This project aims to shed light on key issues concerning sponsorship as a financing and marketing model.
Gustavsson Tingvall, Patrik	Stockholm School of Economics	The SME internationalization process: trade barriers, cultural differences and the role of institutions	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 790 000 That a country's institutions play a central role in economic development and the formation of trade patterns. Well-functioning institutions maintain property rights, business freedom and stable tax rules, among other things: factors that affect can act as significant barriers to trade. A simple overview of existing data suggests that a large number of SMEs have already taken the step of exporting or otherwise acting internationally. Despite the large number of SMEs, trade flows are dominated by a disproportionately small number of large multinationals. This indicates that the internationalization process of SMEs can be particularly interesting to study as small disturbances can completely stop or even reverse the internationalization process. Against this background, Viroj Jienwatcharamongkhol intends to write three dissertation chapters on the topic "SME internationalization process: trade barriers, cultural differences and the role of institutions".
Jutterström, Mats Hugo	SSE Institute for Research (SIR) Foundation	The organized entrepreneur - conditions and effects of business incubators	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 610 000 Contrary to the usual individual-centred and limited view of entrepreneurship, organized entrepreneurship is on the rise in society. Entrepreneurs are increasingly embedded in an organizational context, which many want to help shape. This research project focuses on a clear and widespread example of the increasing organization of entrepreneurship: many entrepreneurial start-ups are now part of business incubators. That is, they are formal members of an organization that will contribute to their development. In the competition between universities, regions and states, the incubator is growing rapidly, and also promotes the development of its companies. Paradoxically, we know relatively little about how incubators try to organize their activities and members, how the organization varies between incubators, and about its conditions and effects. The project aims to contribute knowledge about the emerging organization of entrepreneurship by 1) describing and comparing incubators' organizational attempts, 2) addressing the conditions and effects of organization on entrepreneurial firms. The project uses basic organizational elements to analyze organization and its variation. It also draws attention to the fact that incubators have special conditions for organizing because their members are organizations rather than individuals. By collecting and comparing qualitative data on six incubators, the project also addresses the impact of organization on business development.
Berglund, Bengt	Jernkontoret	Iron as a social transformer. State formation and modernization in Sweden 1150-1350	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 600 000 The project examines the role of iron in the process during the Middle Ages - here delimited to 1150-1350 - when a Swedish national formation took place with a central royal power that gained control over the country. The church and guilds developed into state-supporting institutions, new towns were founded and a bourgeoisie established. The project has so far been able to point to the almost sensational fact that ore mining in Bergslagen occurred as early as the middle of the 10th century. There is therefore reason to believe that the revolutionary blast furnace technology was not transferred from the continent to Sweden, but may instead have originated in Scandinavia. The second phase of the project will therefore focus on comparative studies of developments in the Nordic countries and on the continent. Supported by the project's strong interdisciplinary focus and methodological approach, new opportunities are provided to shed new light on the roots of the Swedish blast furnace. Iron processing gained importance in the national economy, new cities were privileged, credit systems and other institutions for trade were established. The changes are thus linked to the modernization process that began during the period, which had a major impact on the formation of the state and also changed the conditions for the emergence of political power in our country. As part of this process, the mining industry was given a special status through special legislation in the form of privileges issued by the new royal power.
Cramér, Per	Gothenburg School of Economics	Endowed Chair in Business History 2011	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 000 000 Operating appropriations for the 2011 funding of the endowed chair in Business History held by Professor Susanna Fellman.
Cramér, Per	Gothenburg School of Economics	Framework appropriation for the Department of International Business	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 500 000
Andersson, Lars Fredrik	Umeå University	Growth, transformation and competition - the Swedish life insurance industry 1855-2010	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 342 500 The life insurance industry emerged in the mid-19th century in Sweden. In the emerging industrial society, life insurance met a growing need to secure the family's livelihood in the face of life's uncertainties. Changing livelihood patterns and rising incomes created economic opportunities to save money for survivors. At the turn of the 20th century, life insurance provided security for many families in the country. For the economy as a whole, this meant that household savings, which had previously been tied up within the family, could be used for investments in the whole economy. The project examines the life insurance industry using economic statistics collected from all Swedish and foreign companies operating in Sweden since the mid-19th century. The focus is on the development of life insurance companies, growth, transformation and returns in the companies' insurance and investment business. Based on current research literature, it analyzes how macroeconomic conditions, institutional changes, market structure, corporate forms and company-specific characteristics have affected the development of the companies. From a broader research perspective, the study of the history of the Swedish insurance system is important because both market structure and institutions differ from the countries that have been models for the development of theory. The aim of the project is to increase our knowledge in this area and thereby contribute to the international development of theory.
Andersson, Magnus	Gothenburg School of Economics	The European goods and credit market in pre-industrial times. Bills of exchange and assignments as credit and payment instruments	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 685 000 Big picture Economic and political changes take place in Europe during the pre-industrial era and the period is characterized by turbulence. Among other things, several wars take place that change the balance between European states. The resulting economic and social mobility leads to changes in the flow of goods and credit. The overall purpose of the project is to analyze the European payment and credit system during the early modern period, 1760-1800, based on the flows of goods that arise during changing international economic cycles. This includes mapping the actors involved in trade and credit networks and systematizing the flow of goods through the gateway systems that arise around important trade routes. Financial transactions are extensive and an increasing number of bankruptcies occur in Europe, especially in the 1760s. How did trading houses cope with such financial crises? Where did the trading houses in Gothenburg stand in this development? Since trading cities such as Hamburg, London and Amsterdam were at the center of the financial, credit and insurance systems of the time, the question arises as to how trading houses in Gothenburg, with their traditionally strong links to these cities, were affected.
Axelsson, Björn	Stockholm School of Economics	Maintenance and development of a research environment for trade-related research	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 1 450 000 Continued support for one year, partly to two PhD students and partly to two post-docs. The research projects are about (1) transparency and open calculations in service provider-buyer relationships, (2) creating a deeper understanding of complex sales and negotiation processes, (3) the role of the brand when suppliers offer complete solutions and (4) value creation with the support of mobile services.
Anderson, Anders	Institute for Financial Research	Conference on "Real Estate Finance"	Economy	2011	Amount granted: SEK 300 000 The Institute for Financial Research conducts high-quality research in applied financial economics. Through open seminars and conferences, the Institute disseminates research results and is thus a natural meeting place for researchers and representatives of the financial sector. The last one was on "Household finance" and took place in conjunction with the EFA conference on August 17-20, 2011. The SIFR will now organize another two-day conference on 20-21 August 2012.
Wolff, Rolf	University of Gothenburg	Managing the business school for the global economy	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 550 000
Söderlund, Magnus	Stockholm School of Economics	Center of Excellence for Marketing Research at the Stockholm School of Economics.	Economy	2010	Amount awarded: SEK 3 100 000
Tagesson, Torbjörn	Lund University	What explains deviations from the Swedish code of corporate governance	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 380 000
Thede, Susanna	Lund University	Corruption effects on foreign direct investment	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 500 000
Sharma, Dharam Deo	Stockholm School of Economics	Strategizing within competing institutional logics: The microfinance case	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 700 000
Strömberg, Per	Institute for Financial Research	Conference on "Household Finance"	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 1 000 000
Sundberg, Carl Johan	Karolinska Institute	Healthcare and business management for future doctors	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 2 105 420
Kylsberg, Gösta		Royal communication - Choral art and tradition. An autoethnography of authenticity and aura in a royal art company.	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 150 000
Nordanstad, Karl-Gunnar	Gothenburg City Museum	"Heads or tails? Different sides of coins and credits in Gothenburg in the 19th century"	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 610 000
Nyberg, Klas	Stockholm City Archives	Trade guilds and collective action: the wholesale society in Stockholm, 1720-2008	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 500 000
Braunerhjelm, Pontus	Entrepreneurship Forum Foundation	The economics of entrepreneurship: an international research project on the role of institutions.	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 927 000
Johansson, Ulla	University of Gothenburg	Making Sense of Design Work - a research program within design management exploring designers' and design buyers' perspectives	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 3 600 000
Kokko, Ari	Stockholm School of Economics	Effects of institutional functioning and corruption on Swedish firms' offshoring: Location, composition and volume effects	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 1 760 000
Andersson, Per	Stockholm School of Economics	The Mobile Phone, Service Innovations and Market Shaping Processes	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 968 000
Asgharian, Hossein	Lund University	Analyzing Risk Spillovers among Financial Markets using Spatial Econometrics	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 800 000
Ax, Christian	University of Gothenburg	School of Accounting at the University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law.	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 5 760 000
Alvstam, Claes Göran	University of Gothenburg	Research environment "Centre of International Business Studies", School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg.	Economy	2010	Amount granted: SEK 2 300 000
Söderlund, Magnus	Stockholm School of Economics	Center of excellence for marketing research	Economy	2013	Amount granted: 1 666 064 SEK This project aims to develop a strong research environment, a center of excellence (CoE), for marketing research at the Stockholm School of Economics (HHS). Our time horizon is relatively long term, we believe that ten years are needed to achieve this. The environment we seek, which is organizationally based at the Center for Consumer Marketing (CCM), one of the departments at HHS, is characterized by (1) high quality publications, (2) good education of PhD and undergraduate students, (3) high attractiveness in the outside world (e.g. among potential PhD students, conference organizers and the mass media), (4) high quality objectives, (5) strong research leaders, (6) good ability to communicate research, (7) good research infrastructure, and (8) a critical mass of researchers (not too few, but not too many) who complement each other within a defined subject area. The academic subject in question is marketing, with particular emphasis on what is internationally known as "consumer behavior", an area in which the objects of study are how consumers acquire, use and dispose of products (both goods and services). The approach in CCM's research is based on concrete tests, typically with an experimental method, where people are exposed to and come into contact with different marketing expressions (e.g. advertisements or different elements in a shop environment).
Svensson, Roger	Institute for Business Research	Coinage and monetary policy in medieval Europe and Scandinavia	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 210 000 The project aims to analyze coin systems and monetary policy in medieval Europe and Scandinavia. The focus is on the choice between time-limited and long-lived coins in relatively undeveloped economies where coins began to be used as a means of transaction and a measure of value by large parts of the population. Time-limited coins meant that the mint master periodically invalidated the old coins, which had to be exchanged for new coins for a fee. The project analyzes the consequences of the choice of coin system for coin deterioration, economic activity and uncertainty. In particular, coins in the form of so-called one-sided bracteates will be analyzed and how they relate to time-limited coins. A simple theoretical model will be built and tested on the Scandinavian countries during the Middle Ages. Existing literature on the subject has neither used: 1) economic theory to understand monetary policy and the function of money, nor 2) statistical methods to analyze treasure finds. Nor has previous Swedish literature linked the Swedish medieval coins to the international research literature. In this project I apply all three of these methods. It should be emphasized that the project is interdisciplinary: existing literature and scientific methods in economics, economic history, numismatics and archaeology will be used and applied.
Seim, David	Institute for Business Research	Effects of wealth shocks	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 962 500 How are individuals affected by financial shocks? What are the consequences of unpredictable changes in individuals' stock portfolios? How do declines in portfolio value affect labor supply, consumption and savings? Do individuals choose to work more and retire later? Does health deteriorate, is mortality affected? Does the opposite happen for increases in asset values? How strong are informal insurance channels within the family? Are family and relatives affected by changes in wealth? Do these channels help individuals who have lost a lot of money due to a financial shock? On the other hand, during financial upswings, is wealth shared within the family? This research project aims to answer these questions empirically using a new research methodology. I study these questions with detailed Swedish data covering the portfolio holdings of all Swedes. The project is the first of its kind to use these data to analyze these questions. Our analysis will not only help to answer academically important questions such as how individuals choose to work and how savings are determined, but I will also be able to make recommendations in the design of economic policy. For example, if individuals with different levels of wealth choose to retire at different times, a pension system where the pension depends on wealth may be justified.
Strömberg, David	Stockholm University	Conversion of rented housing, private wealth and policy preferences	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 660 000 How are people's political values affected by their income and wealth? This project aims to study this question in a specific setting, namely the conversion of rental apartments in Stockholm between 2007 and 2010. The apartments were systematically priced below the market value of the corresponding condominiums, which meant that those who bought their apartment made a large financial gain. By combining primary data from a specially designed questionnaire survey with administrative data from government registers, we can use statistical analysis to compare individuals who bought a converted rental apartment with those who showed interest in buying their apartment, but ultimately did not have the opportunity. We ask how the buyers' financial gain changes their general political views, such as their views on redistribution, and especially their voting decisions. Our study aims to increase the understanding of how political opinions are formed and how they can be linked to voting decisions. Finally, we will be able to answer whether redistribution affected the overall election result in the 2010 elections. Did the Alliance benefit from the policy and has there been a permanent shift of Stockholmers' values to the right?
Member Falkman, Lena	Stockholm School of Economics	Social media as a tool for the construction of political leadership	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 3 462 500 Göran Hägglund has one, so does Annie Lööf, and Carl Bildt. A Twitter account. Every other top politician today has a Facebook page, and perhaps a blog of their own. Leaders in Sweden have been using social media for some time. The new media provide an easy and quick way to reach both colleagues and competitors, including party members, voters and other parties. In addition to serving as a new meeting place, social media can also be a tool for presenting the image of oneself that the politician wants. Social media provides the power to construct oneself as a person, and as a leader. The purpose of the interdisciplinary research project is thus to develop theories on authentic leadership, an important track today in the field of business leadership. We will do so by bringing in political science and rhetoric, as well as conducting empirical studies, which is unusual in authentic leadership. We will examine and explain who, how and why Swedish leaders use social media, and what consequences this may have. We are also interested in whether and how leaders appear authentic and genuine in their rhetoric through social media. In the project, we want to contribute with both theoretical and practical knowledge about the phenomenon that leaders are active on social media and what it can mean in and for Sweden.
Swiss, Roger	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Developing research and development capacity in emerging markets	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 904 000 An increasing number of multinationals have started to realize that the so-called emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa offer very good conditions for conducting research and development (R&D) activities in order to develop innovative and resource-efficient products and services for the global market at relatively low costs. In order to exploit this business opportunity, multinationals need to build up the necessary R&D skills and knowledge in local units and integrate the new unit into the existing global organization to enable the sharing of skills and knowledge between new and existing R&D units. So far, research has not studied these two interlinked processes. By studying a number of Swedish multinational companies' R&D units in India and how they have built up the necessary local R&D capacity and knowledge and how this affects the companies' global R&D strategy and organization, the study will not only address the research gap outlined above but also contribute knowledge to practitioners on how this process can be managed and how challenges can be addressed.
Cramér, Per	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Torsten and Ragnar Söderberg Chair at the University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law, capital increase	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 7 000 000
Husebye, Alexander	Center for Business History	The history of Swedish entrepreneurship - 150 years of growth 1864-2014	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 675 000 The Center for Business History produces a book that, based on the 1864 business freedom reforms, highlights the conditions for entrepreneurship and the development of the Swedish business community. With the help of a long-term perspective, it analyzes how the development of the Swedish business community has created the conditions for economic growth and social development. The analysis focuses on the relationship between state, market and business and discusses the long-term processes that have resulted in transformation and development. The project will highlight turning points and transformation processes related to:
Häger Glenngård, Anna	Lund University	Patient-perceived and medical quality in Swedish primary care	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 691 600 Reforms in Swedish primary care in recent years have focused on increased privatization and competition among providers and increased freedom of choice for citizens. Individuals are allowed to choose among public and private clinics financed by public funds and are expected to compete for listed individuals in a so-called quasi-market. Important objectives behind the introduction of such models are to achieve better responsiveness, accessibility and quality towards individuals. Furthermore, market mechanisms are expected to lead to more efficient use of the public funds that finance the activities. These gains should also take place without negative consequences in terms of increased inequalities in the population. The purpose of the project is to study variation in quality among primary care clinics with regard to conditions among individuals and organizational and structural characteristics among clinics. Analyses of both medical quality and patients' perceptions of quality and responsiveness in primary care, as well as possible contradictions between them, will be studied. In the continued governance and development of Swedish primary care, such issues are important to consider, especially within the framework of models where patients' perceptions of quality and responsiveness are expected to guide individuals' choice of clinic and thus drive the quality of care forward. These issues are also interesting to highlight from a governance perspective given the dual accountability of quasi-markets.
Holmquist, Carin	Stockholm School of Economics	The role of family members in family businesses: A longitudinal population study of ownership and succession transitions	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 35 000 Sweden has the oldest entrepreneurs in Europe. 75% of managers in privately owned companies are over 40 years old and as many as 38.4% are of retirement age. Unless someone in the family or external owners take over the business, tens of thousands of companies will close down in the next decade (Företagarna 2009, Nutek 2008). This is a major problem that many have warned about but is still growing. Most entrepreneurs have families with children who are familiar with the business. The potential for family entrepreneurship should therefore be good. But the proportion of businesses that are taken over by the next generation is low. Only 4.6 % of today's entrepreneurs have inherited businesses (Nutek 2008). A fundamental problem is the lack of systematic research on how and under what conditions entrepreneurs choose to let their family take over, sell to outsiders, or close down the business. Why is it that so few take over businesses from previous generations? What do the potential successors do instead? What happens to the individuals and to the companies, and are there differences between the companies that are kept within the family and those that are sold or closed down? Miriam Birds's thesis analyzes factors of importance for the survival and success of family businesses during generational transitions. A specific focus for Miriam is how family businesses are socially and regionally embedded. The project is based on a unique and comprehensive data set where SCB helped us compile data for all companies, owners and their children over a 20-year period.
Hallén, Per	University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law	Printing grant for the "Heads or Tails" project	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 265 000 In 2011, the three-year project "Krona eller klave. Different sides of coins and credits in 19th century Gothenburg". In 2014, a report will be completed in the form of a book that reinterprets the economic history of Gothenburg in the 19th century. The book is estimated to be around 350-480 pages.
Hemlin, Sven	University of Gothenburg, GRI	Improving the management of pension funds	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 2 291 250 The public pension funds together manage over SEK 1,000 billion in their buffer funds to ensure the financial stability of the pension system over economic cycles. For both the individual pensioner and the national economy, it is essential that the pension funds succeed in achieving a stable but also a good return over time. This project deals firstly with the question of how reliable predictions of market developments are made by pension fund managers. A second area examined is how pension fund managers make risk assessments. A third area concerns decision-making strategies in economic decision-making. Theoretically, the project is based on how people behave and make decisions in economic situations (behavioral economics, economic psychology). The purpose of the research project is to investigate and gain a better understanding of how well pension managers can predict value development, make risk assessments when investing and what decision-making strategies they use to invest fund assets. The aim also includes the applied task of contributing to stronger predictions, more accurate risk assessments and improved decision-making strategies in public pension funds. The project includes three empirical sub-studies and a final applied synthesis study. The results are disseminated in scientific journals and popular media. The project ends with a workshop for pension funds and researchers.
Holmberg, Pär	Institute for Business Research	Bidding records and auction results	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 3 120 000 The bidding protocol specifies in detail which bids are allowed in an auction. For example, the protocol specifies the price range within which bids must fall, but also the specific prices within the range that are allowed. Sometimes several identical goods are sold in the same auction, for example when trading commodities and financial instruments. In this case, each bid consists of a price and quantity pair, where the quantity indicates how much the participant is willing to buy at the invited price. Previous studies of multiple commodity auctions usually assume an idealized bidding protocol where prices and quantities are allowed to vary continuously and where bidders form a smooth curve instead of a bidding staircase. However, a few previous theoretical studies have shown that the technical details of the bidding protocol, which the schematic studies have ignored, can have major consequences for the outcome of the auction. We want to further investigate the driving forces behind this phenomenon, to what extent it can be observed in practice and how it can be used to improve the efficiency of auctions. In the theoretical part of our study, we use game theory to predict the bidding in an auction under different bidding rules. The theoretical predictions are then tested in economic experiments.
Axelsson, Björn	Stockholm School of Economics	Developing an environment for trade-relevant research	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 1 595 250 The application concerns continued support for a research environment with trade-relevant research at the Stockholm School of Economics. There is a long history of this support, which has been of great benefit to us and has produced good results in research. In recent years, the support has been provided with an amount intended to support 3 doctoral students and 2 postdocs, including expenses. First, we report how the previous year's grant was used. This is followed by a description of developments within four of the ongoing research programs and two separate projects. The programs covered are a) solution business, b) sustainable business, c) service innovation, d) international retailing. The two projects are a) Open boks, b) Pricing as an organizational issue. This is in line with the previous year. The review discusses who has received funding and what has been achieved. It also discusses some planned future projects. In cases where specific researchers are already involved, their names and the funds applied for are stated. In other cases, the type of people (doctoral students, PhD) who are intended to be involved.
Engbom, Niklas	(Princeton University, USA)	Labour market frictions, wage growth and inequality over the life course	Economy	2013	Amount granted: 135 000 SEK There are large international differences in how wages evolve over the career between the US and Europe: between the ages of 21 and 50, average real wages rise by 80% in the US, while in Germany, for example, they only increase by half as much. At the same time, inequality rises much more sharply in the US over the career span. It is important for both public policy and economic research to understand the forces behind such large transatlantic differences in how wages evolve over a lifetime. In my project "Labor market frictions, wage growth and lifetime inequality" I investigate whether large international differences in labor market mobility can explain the significant differences in wage growth and lifetime inequality between the US and Europe. I document marked differences in labor mobility as well as wage growth, and find that the average American changes jobs more than twice as often as the average European. Previous research has shown the importance of such job-to-job switches for wage growth - on average, wages rise by 10% with a job change. I develop a model that captures the importance of labor mobility, showing important interaction effects between mobility and human capital investment decisions. Finally, I analyze the institutional differences that underlie the large international differences in labor mobility.
Gullstrand, Joakim	Lund University	Corporate globalization: the organization, the entrepreneur, the innovations	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 320 000 The project builds on the international trade literature that studies the export and import decisions of firms. In brief, this literature shows that relatively few firms export and that the firms that enter the international market are the most productive. The literature explains this pattern by saying that only productive firms can pay the costs of entering the international market. In other words, the complex pattern of firms' international linkages has been explained by a black box, as productivity measures are affected by everything from differences in product quality, product mix, management capabilities, organizational form to capital intensity and economies of scale. The main challenge for future research in international trade is to open up this box to explain in detail what matters when firms make their trade decisions. In particular, this is of importance for the design of different policy measures implemented to strengthen firms' opportunities in the global market. It will otherwise be difficult to design policies and predict their effects if this black box is not opened. The purpose of this project is thus to identify the underlying factors of firms' trade decisions and there are three main issues that will be highlighted: how firms organize the links and the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in these links.
Anderson, Anders	Institute for Financial Research	SIFR conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship	Economy	2013	Amount granted: SEK 550 000 Every year, the SIFR organizes a conference on a theme in financial economics. This year, the theme is entrepreneurship, which is one of the key drivers of economic growth and dynamism in the global economy. This conference provides a unique opportunity to bring together leading academics, policy makers and entrepreneurs to discuss the forces that create entrepreneurship, while highlighting the role of Sweden and the Nordic countries as leading regions for innovation. The conference will therefore bring together both academics and practicing entrepreneurs to discuss the latest research on entrepreneurship and not least the role of venture capital, regulation and policy.

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