Olof Åslund

Economist working mostly on migration and the labor market.
Professor at the Department of Economics, Uppsala university.
Director of Uppsala Immigration Lab.
Researcher at IFAU, research fellow IZA and CReAM, UCLS affiliate.

Ongoing and recent work

Papers (available for presentations, email for current draft)

"Cross-border behavioral impacts of formal institutions: Evidence from retirement timing" (with Axel Cronert). WP. Popular report (in Swedish).  (Previous title "Origin country institutions and immigrant retirement timing")

"Professional networks and the labour market assimilation of immigrants" (with Mattias Engdahl and Sébastien Willis). WP. Popular report (in Swedish)

"Childhood determinants of health shock impacts: Age at migration and COVID-19" (with Erik Grönqvist, Oskar Nordström Skans, and Tram Pham)

"Capital Incomes among Muslim Immigrants in Sweden: Evidence using Member Registers of Islamic Organizations" (with Niklas Bengtsson and Per-Anders Edin)

"Origin, norms, and the motherhood penalty" (with Arizo Karimi and Anton Sundberg)

"The long-term integration of refugee children --  Swedish experiences after the Yugoslav wars" (with Linus Liljeberg and Sara Roman). WP. Popular report (in Swedish). Infographic in Swedish and English.

"Firm productivity and immigrant-native earnings disparity" (with Cristina Bratu, Stefano Lombardi, and Anna Thoresson). WP. Popular report (in Swedish) Infographic in Swedish and English.

Recently accepted

"Joining late, leaving early? Immigrant-native disparities in labor market exit" (with Fredrik Larsson and Lisa Laun). Labour Economics. Article. Popular report (in Swedish). Infographic in Swedish and English.

“Limbo or leverage? Asylum waiting and refugee integration” (with Mattias Engdahl and Olof Rosenqvist). Journal of Public Economics. Article. Popular report (in Swedish).

Research programs and projects (ongoing external funding)

“Understanding and advancing labor market integration in transitional times”, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, Forte, 2022–2027, grant no. 2021–01570, (PI, multiple co-applicants).

“Aging migrants, labor market transitions, and the welfare state”, Swedish Research Council, 2019–2024, grant no. 2018–04898, (PI, with Axel Cronert, Lisa Laun, Joakim Palme, and Pernilla Tunberger).

“Residential segregation, urbanization and unequal life-chances”, Swedish Research Council, 2024–2029, grant no. 2023-01296 (co-applicant, PI Matz Dahlberg).

"Övergångar mellan skolformer" (School transitions), Skandia - Idéer för livet, 2024-2029 (co-applicant, PI Gustaf Gredebäck).

About me

My research focuses on the economics of migration and integration, and on the evaluation of policy in various areas.  I also work on the determinants of human capital accumulation and the mechanisms of segregation.  

I am a Professor at the Department of Economics, Uppsala University and Director of Uppsala Immigration Lab (UIL). 

In 2010–2019, I was Director-General at IFAU (Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy). IFAU is a government agency under the Ministry of Employment.

Researcher at IFAU, research fellow at IZA and CReAM, and affiliated researcher at UCLS.

I have been a member of the National Delegation for Migration Studies (Delmi), served as expert to several government commisions as well as to the OECD and the World Bank.  Member of the scientific board at the National Audit Office, former member VELKUSAM board at the Norwegian Research Council.

In addition to academic outlets, I have to a significant extent been writing for and presenting to broader policy related audiences.

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