Maria Olsson
I am a PhD student in Economics at Uppsala University, Sweden. Expected graduation year 2019/2020. Affiliated with Uppsala Center for Labor Studies (UCLS)
My main research area is in the overlap between macro and labor economics. Using both micro and macro data I study the link between macroeconomic fluctuations and the labor market.
Research Interests
- Macro economics
- Labor economics
- Applied econometrics
Research
Refereed Journal Articles
- Fixed-Wage Contracts and Monetary Non-Neutrality - with Mikael Carlsson and Oskar Nordström Skans
2019, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 11 (2): 171-92.
Abstract: We study the importance of wage rigidities for the monetary policy transmission mechanism. Using uniquely rich micro data on Swedish wage negotiations, we isolate periods when the labor market is covered by fixed wage contracts. Importantly, negotiations are coordinated in time but their seasonal patterns are far from deterministic. Using a two-regime VAR model, we document that monetary policy shocks have a larger impact on production during fixed wage episodes as compared to the average response. The results do not seem to be driven by the periodic structure, nor the seasonality, of the renegotiation episodes.
Working Paper Version: Sveriges Riksbank Working Paper Series No. 368
Work in Progress
Job-market paper:
- Labor Cost Adjustments During the Great Recession
Abstract: This paper quantifies how firms adjust their labor costs in response to a large drop in demand and the short term consequences for their employees. The Great Recession in Sweden provides a clearly defined experiment to answer these questions. I use the fact that the recession was heavily concentrated to export dependent sectors and firms to estimate the degree to which affected firms were able to adjust actual wages and/or labor input to the sharp and sudden fall in demand. Although the crisis hit the Swedish labor market during a period of pre-determined three-year long collective wage contracts, I find wage adjustments in line with the international evidences on rent sharing. The key result in this paper is that despite this, the crisis lead to a large increase in separation to unemployment, providing evidence that incumbent wage rigidity matters for unemployment fluctuations. Further, I find support of that formality of labor market institutions are important in shaping these adverse effects.
[E-mail for latest version]
- Business Cycles and Production Networks
Abstract: What is the origin of business cycles? The traditional view is that a business cycle is due to shocks correlated across sectors. This is complemented by a recently emerging literature where idiosyncratic shocks to larger or well interconnected sectors contribute to aggregate variation. This paper addresses the relative empirical importance of these two channels of business cycle variation. Results indicate that up to a third of the business cycle and two thirds of the aggregate shocks is driven by idiosyncratic productivity variation together with network amplifications.
Working Paper Department of Economics, Uppsala University [E-mail for latest version]