Worker specialization and the consequences of occupational decline (submitted)

Are workers with poor outside opportunities less responsive and more susceptible to negative demand shifts in routine occupations? To answer this, I create and estimate an occupation specialization index (OSI) using Swedish register data and machine learning tools. It measures the expected utility difference between a worker's occupation and his best outside option. This determines the loss he is willing to tolerate to avoid switching. Low-OSI generalists disproportionately left routine work. Their future wage growth was akin to comparable workers initially in non-routine occupations. By contrast, routine specialists largely stayed put and experienced lower wage growth than generalists and non-routine specialists.

Outside options and the sharing of match-specific rents (with Peter Fredriksson, Lena Hensvik and Oskar Nordström Skans)

We provide two pieces of evidence that workers’ capacity to extract rents from match-specific productivity hinges on their outside options. Using a measure of match quality, derived from the relationship between workers’ multidimensional skills and job-specific skill requirements, we show that: (i) wages within ongoing matches are more closely aligned with match quality following an improvement of local labor market conditions; (ii) wages of job-to-job movers are positively related to the match quality in the previous job, even when controlling for previous wage. These findings are consistent with a framework where workers can use counteroffers to extract rents from match-specific productivity.

Understanding occupational wage growth (with Adrian Adermon, Georg Graetz and Yaroslav Yakymovych)

Using a new identification strategy, we jointly estimate the growth in occupational wage premia as well as time-varying occupation-specific life-cycle profiles for Swedish workers 1996–2013. We document a substantial increase in between-occupation wage inequality due to differential growth in premia. However, due to worker re-allocation this increase is not apparent in raw wage data. The association of wage premium growth and employment growth is positive, suggesting that premium growth is predominantly driven by demand side factors. We also find that wage growth due to occupation-specific skill acquisition was more dispersed in the early years of the sample period. Our results are robust to allowing for occupation-level changes in returns to cognitive and psycho-social skills.

The importance of local employment offices for the unemployed (with Josefine Andersson and Jonas Cederlöf)

Differences in effectiveness across private providers of employment services (with Jan Sauermann)

Ek, S., M. Hammarstedt & P. Skedinger (2024), "Low‐skilled jobs, language proficiency, and job opportunities for refugees: an experimental study", Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 126(2), 355-386.

Ek, S. (2023), Structural Change, Match Quality, and Integration in the Labor Market, Dissertation, Department of Economics, Uppsala University

Ek, S., M. Hammarstedt & P. Skedinger (2020), Enkla jobb och kunskaper i svenska–nycklar till integration?, SNS Förlag, Stockholm.

Ek, S. & M. Henrekson (2019), “The Geography and Concentration of Authorship in the Top-Five: Implications for European Economics”, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 66(2), 215-245.

Ek, S. & M. Henrekson (2019), “Vem publicerar i topp-5 och vad betyder det för europeisk nationalekonomi?”, Ekonomisk Debatt, Nr 5, Årg 47.

Ek, S. & P. Skedinger (2019), “Wage Policies and the Integration of Immigrants”, in Calmfors, L. & Sánchez Gassen, N., Integrating Immigrants into the Nordic Labour Markets, Nordregio, Nordic Council of Ministers, Stockholm.

Calmfors, L., S. Ek, A.-S. Kolm, & P. Skedinger (2019), Kollektivavtal och lönebildning i en ny tid, Dialogos Förlag, Stockholm.

Calmfors, L., P. Danielsson, S. Ek, A.-S. Kolm, T. Pekkarinen & P. Skedinger (2018), Hur ska fler komma in på arbetsmarknaden?, Dialogos Förlag, Stockholm.

Ek, S. (2018), “Vart leder lågkvalificerade jobb?”, Ekonomisk Debatt, Nr 5, Årg 46.

Calmfors, L., S. Ek, A.-S. Kolm, T. Pekkarinen & P. Skedinger (2018), Olika vägar till jobb, Report 2018:2, Swedish Labour Policy Council, Stockholm.

Calmfors, L., S. Ek, A.-S. Kolm, T. Pekkarinen & P. Skedinger (2018), Hur fungerar kollektivavtalen?, Report 2018:1, Swedish Labour Policy Council, Stockholm.

Ek, S. & M. Henrekson (2018), “Citeringar: att mäta och att mäta rätt”, Ekonomisk Debatt, Nr 1, Årg 46.

Ek, S. & R. Svensson (2017), “Immateriella tillgångar, innovationer och ekonomisk tillväxt/välstånd på makronivå" in Samband mellan immateriella tillgångar, innovation och ekonomisk tillväxt: två kunskapsöversikter, Vinnova, Stockholm.