Labor and applied microeconomics
Labor economists investigate a wide range of questions aimed at understanding how labor markets work, and how public policies may interact with labor market choices and outcomes.
Labor economics is a growing field at the University of Gothenburg, with a number of international hires in the last five years.
Research interests
Research interests in the group are diverse and currently emphasize the following sub-topics of labour economics: economics of education, economics of crime, discrimination, peer effects and networks, early life interventions, intergenerational mobility, job search and matching, and welfare participation. These questions are studied in numerous countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Romania, using methods ranging from structural and reduced form econometrics to field experiments.
Grants
"How much inequality can be explained by family background? A new intergenerational decomposition approach", Riksbankens jubileumsfond, Mikael Lindahl, Andreas Dzemski.
"The Equilibrium Implications of Identity Choice: Education and Passing of Roma Population", The Foundation for Economic Research in West Sweden, 2024-2025. Andreea Mitrut.
Breaking the Inequality-Crime Cycle: Biases in Police Decisions, 'What Works'in Prison, and Firm Demand for Workers with Criminal Records (POLICE-PRISONS-FIRMS) European Research Council Advanced Grant, Principal Investigator, 2024-2028. Randi Hjalmarsson.
“Workers with Criminal Records: Firm Biases and InformalNetworks, Foundation for Economic Research in West Sweden”, 2023-2024. Randi Hjalmarsson.
‘What Works’ in Prison? Causal Evidence on the Intended and UnintendedImpacts of Sanction Reforms and In-Prison Healthcare, Vetenskapsrådet, Project Grant, 2023-2025, with Matthew Lindquist (Early termination: 2023). Randi Hjalmarsson.
"The differential impact of occupations on mental health: A population wide study", Familjen Kamprads Stiftelse (The Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research & Charity), 2023-2025. Eva Ranehill, Sanna Bergvall.
"Motherhood and Intimate Partner Violence", Adlerbertska Stiftelsen, 2025-2026. Sanna Bergvall.
“Impacts and Predictors of Extended Paternity Leave”, Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius Stiftelse Tore Browaldhs Stiftelse, Handelsbanken, 2023-2026.
Sanna Bergvall, Ariel Pihl, Mikael Lindahl, Tim Bayer.
“Consequences of changes and reforms within the Swedish school system during the first half of the 20th century”, Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius Stiftelse Tore Browaldhs Stiftelse, Handelsbanken, 2022-2025.
Mikael Lindahl (PI), Christian M. Dahl, Martin Karlsson, Gustav Kjellsson
“Quantitative analysis of income and wealth distributions using novel econometric methods,” Vetenskapsrådet, Project Grant, 2021-2024.
Mikael Lindahl (PI), Andreas Dzemski, Aico Van Vuuren
“A more equal school. How the abolishment of half-time schooling in rural primary schools in Sweden affected life chances and inequality,”Vetenskapsrådet, Project Grant, 2024-2027.
Gustav Kjellsson (PI), Christian M. Dahl, Martin Karlsson, Mikael Lindahl
