Research
Published papers:
Grading Bias and the Leaky Pipeline in Economics: Evidence from Stockholm University
(with Björn Tyrefors) (Published in Labour Economics)
(WP)
We estimate a substantial female grade gain when being graded anonymously compared to male students in 101-macroeconomics courses. Females graded anonymously are more likely to continue with economics studies. This suggests that biased grading is a direct cause of the “leaky pipeline” phenomenon in economics. As male graders are the majority, we complement our analysis and evaluate the importance of same-sex bias using random assignment of graders. Although, we estimate a substantial same-sex bias before anonymous exams were introduced, it cannot explain the overall effect of grading bias. Thus, same-sex bias is not the mechanism explaining the overall effect of grading bias
Media coverage:
Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian)
Working papers:
Sexism and Racism Online: A Matter of Anonymity (with Emma von Essen) (submitted)
In today’s digital age, social media serves as a cornerstone for democratic participation by swiftly disseminating political opinions and information. Paradoxically, this democratizing force harbors a dark side - the proliferation of sexism, racism, and false information, often spread under anonymity. Anonymity however acts as a double-edged sword, enabling free expression while hindering accountability and concealing the senders’ motives. Our study weds text analysis with an event study design to explore how anonymity shapes racism, sexism, and false information in online political discussions. Employing supervised machine-learning models, we quantitatively measure racism and sexism. A pivotal event on an online platform, reducing anonymity within a well-defined user group, forms the basis for our difference-in-differences analysis. Our findings uncover the intricate effects of anonymity reduction on online discourse. Decreased anonymity is associated with a clear reduction in racism, but no significant change in sexism. Interestingly, discussions about immigration exhibit a decrease in fake news links when anonymity diminishes, a trend absent in discussions covering feminism. This research advances our comprehension of the interplay between sexism and racism in today's digitalized world, illuminating the complex dynamics of accountability, discourse, and digital democracy.
Popular science coverage:
Ikaros (in Swedish)
Nyfiken (podcast, in English)
IFN-podden (podcast in Swedish)
Ekonomisk debatt (in Swedish)
Anticipation Effects of a Board Room Gender Quota Law: Evidence from a Credible Threat in Sweden (with Björn Tyrefors) (submitted)
Boardroom quota laws have received an increasing amount of attention. However, firms typically anticipate laws and can respond to them before their effective date. This paper provides novel results on female board participation and firm performance in Sweden due to a credible threat of the enactment of a quota law. The threat caused a substantial and rapid increase in the share of female board members among listed firms. We also observe increased board diversity in other dimensions. Moreover, we also find a lower turnover rate for female board directors and higher turnover for male CEOs consistent with mediocre male board members and CEOs being replaced. Interestingly firm performance improved, which was related to higher sales and lower labor costs. The results highlight that it is possible to increase the share of women on corporate boards without resorting to quotas and that anticipatory effects of a law could be detrimental to the analysis of the law.
Popular science coverage:
Ekonomisk debatt (in Swedish)
Ekonomistas (in Swedish)
Mixed gender signals in the Rental Housing Market: Evidence from a Correspondence Study (with Sofia Fritzson) (submitted)
We present results from the first correspondence study investigating the effect of mixed gender signals in the housing market. In a preregistered trial, 800 fictitious letters were dispatched to rental apartment landlords. Mixed gender signal applicants received response rates in between female and male applicants and were more frequently queried about their gender. Male applicants faced fewer positive responses, a higher incidence of being addressed by an erroneous name and were less likely to be asked about solitary living arrangements.
Work in progress:
Differences in prison sentencing between the genders and immigration background in Sweden: discrepancies and possible explanations
I use data on punished drunk drivers to document differences in sentencing for the same crime between immigrants and native born and males and females respectively. Differences in past criminal activity or other individual observables can not explain the difference in sentencing. Instead, the difference between immigrants and native born seem to be due to statistical discrimination in the recidivism rate, while the differences in recidivism rates might explain the gender difference.
Political language and hate online (with Emma von Essen and Murathan Kurfali)
Long term effects of early sorting in schools (with Björn Tyrefors and Christian Møller Dahl)
Long term effects of child allowance (with Björn Tyrefors, Linnea Karlsson, Louise Lorentzon and Christian Møller Dahl)
Mild Sentencing and Crime Deterrence (with Mikael Priks, Per Pettersson-Lidbom and Björn Tyrefors)
Border closure and unemployment during COVID-19: the role of cross-border shopping (with Adam Birgersson)
Master Thesis:
Local Human Capital and Immigrants: Complements, Substitutes and Externalities