A new technology gradually spreads into a population. When only some individuals use a new technology, we have a technological divide. All citizens should be able to perform their duties and exercise their rights. From a policy point of view, it is of clear interest to find out if the introduction of a new technology leaves some persons behind. In this paper, we present information about the internet use in Sweden 2000 and 2006 by category. We find evidence of a digital divide for both years. By comparing the two years, we find that the digital divide got smaller during this period. We present forecasts for the use of internet and the outcome is that the digital divide will be negligible around 2050. The analysis clearly identifies the characteristics related to lagging behind. In that way, the digital divide is an easy policy target.

There are two distinctly different ways to handle the digital divide. The first is simply to accept the situation as it is. If some persons pay their bills over the internet and others pay in the traditional way, both systems have to be functional. The second is to close down all traditional systems. Then many persons will not be able to participate in the democracy in a complete way. This could be solved by giving individuals with certain characteristics a computer, internet connections, schooling, and all technical support needed (including getting it all to work). Obviously, it is also an option to choose a midway policy.

In this paper, we first present how one can create functional economic regions. Then, we elaborate on the economic activity and spatial interaction, which forms functional regions, and the development of the system of functional regions. Our presentation shows that the economy is structured in functional regions, and hence it is important to use functional regions in economic studies, in order to produce correct results, and for regional policy, in order for the policy to be effective. We observe, that the often used NUTS-regions are very large compared to the functional regions. We argue, therefore, that the use of NUTS-regions ought to be replaced by the use of functional regions. This would lead to more reliable results and better policy outcomes.

We calculate aggregate economic-milieu variables and use them as explanatory variables to study the Swedish commuting pattern. The variables are of accessibility type (i.e. spatially discounted) and are logarithmic ratios. We start from the assumption of utility maximizing individuals. The probability to commute using a link increases with expected utility. We apply two models: the quantity model and the wage model. The explanatory power is high and the results are as expected. Labor demand is positively related to utility. Worker competition is negatively related to utility. Wage is positively related to utility. A municipality, which isnot a regional center, can strive to increase the number of jobs within the municipality. The second best, for such a municipality, is that jobs are available in the municipality that is the regional center. Otherwise, the municipality and region will economically decline.

In the wellbeing literature, different authors use different terminology. Commonly used terms are happiness, subjective wellbeing, satisfaction with life and the good life. In the literature, you also find many different ideas regarding how to explain individual happiness. I find these ideas confusing. I think that much of the confusion originates from misinterpreting survey answers. The aspirations model of happiness cannot explain three stylized facts. The aspirations model is inconsistent. In this paper, I propose a new model of satisfaction with life. This model creates some order and can explain the three stylized facts. It turns out that we do not need aspirations to explain the stylized facts. The conclusion is that aspirations may exist, but they may not be as important as suggested by earlier literature.

Att analysera och rapportera ekonomi handlar om vanliga arbetsuppgifter för en ekonom: att bygga modeller, genomföra analyser samt skriva och presentera rapporter. Boken består av två delar: Ekonomiska modeller och rapporter samt Laborationer.

Del ett handlar om hur du bygger modeller, skriver och presenterar rapporter. Här förklaras alla moment som gör att du kan komma från idé till rapport. Förutom rena färdigheter beskrivs förhållningssättet till att skriva och presentera. Till varje kapitel finns övningar och i slutet av boken ett facit. Del två består av laborationer där du övar på att komma från idé till rapport. Här presenteras även en beskrivning av hur en idé kan uppkomma och det kan hjälpa dig att själv få ett uppslag till en rapport. Bokens andra del fungerar även som underlag för seminariediskussioner om uppsatsskrivande och ekonomisk analys.

Boken förklarar tydligt och enkelt praktiska färdigheter som en ekonom behöver i sitt dagliga arbete. Den vänder sig till dig som vill kunna bygga modeller för att analysera problem, skriva rapporter och skapa presentationer med Excel, Word och PowerPoint och kan användas som komplement i introduktionskurser i ekonomi, men även i kurser mer inriktade på modellering eller skrivande t.ex. uppsatskurser på fördjupnings- och avancerad nivå. Boken kan läsas på flera sätt beroende på läsarens färdighetsnivå, såväl som en komplett guide från idé till rapport som en uppslagsbok för den som vill ha snabba tips. Att analysera och rapportera ekonomi ger läsaren de verktyg som behövs för att lyckas med ekonomisk uppsats eller rapport.

We measure country welfare by an index number calculated from welfare components like GDP per capita and expected length of life. We rank countries from high to low welfare using such estimated welfare indices. In such calculation the chosen welfare components, the procedures used to normalize them, and the weight structure are important. Changing the components, the normalization procedures, or the weight structure change the welfare indices and it may in the next step also alter the rank order. In this paper, I present information about the importance of the weight structure, and the normalization procedure, taking the welfare components that follow I extract the rank order for each structure. The result of this procedure is a rank order distribution for each country. In this paper, I present the rank order distribution for some countries. For example: According to the human development index Sweden is ranked at 7th place. With random weights Sweden is ranked as high as fifth place in 5.1 per cent of the cases, and as low as 14th in 13.6 per cent of the cases, with the mean rank equal to 9.8. The ruling political parties and the political opposition can choose weights and normalization procedure to favor their argument, even though they start from the same data.

Accessibility measures are useful for studies in Economic Geography. For example, accessibility to potential customers can be used in a study of firm behaviour. In such a study, it would be relevant to consider where potential customers live. This can be accomplished by splitting the accessibility measure into three parts: accessibility within the municipality, in other municipalities within the functional region, and in other regions. Many studies have proved this to be a very useful way to incorporate the spatial structure of the economy into economic studies. This paper deals with the issue of finding the distance-friction parameters needed to calculate such accessibility measures. There is a particular distance-friction parameter for interaction within the municipality, between municipalities within the functional region, and between regions. One way to find the distance-friction parameters is to solve a constrained gravity model, in which the functional regions are used as constraints. Both the models and the optimisation procedures in matrix form, and the Matlab programs used in the research are presented. The spatial constraints are gradually introduced into the models, which empowers the researcher to make such adjustments on their own. The data set used is available for downloading, and the reader can then try the models before creating a data set of their own. 

We measure country welfare by an index number calculated from welfare components like GDP per capita and expected length of life. We rank countries from high to low welfare using such estimated welfare indices. In such calculation the chosen welfare components, the procedures used to normalize them, and the weight structure are important. Changing the components, the normalization procedures, or the weight structure change the welfare indices and it may in the next step also alter the rank order. In this paper, I present information about the importance of the weight structure, and the normalization procedure, taking the welfare components as given. I draw one million random weight structures and from the welfare indices that follow I extract the rank order for each structure. The result of this procedure is a rank order distribution for each country. In this paper, I present the rank order distribution for some countries. For example: According to the human development index Sweden is ranked at 7th place. With random weights Sweden is ranked as high as fifth place in 5.1 per cent of the cases, and as low as 14th in 13.6 per cent of the cases, with the mean rank equal to 9.8.

In this paper, some consequences of the Swedish unemployment benefit rules are studied. This is achieved by introducing geographical mobility into a labour market matching model. Jobseekers and vacancies are unevenly distributed across space. Therefore, both the probability that a jobseeker will find a job and the probability that a vacancy is filled during a period vary across locations. Moreover, these differences are followed by spatial differences in both the duration of unemployment and vacancy times. It is shown that the potential of geographical mobility to increase the number of matches is limited in a labour market with few or many vacancies per jobseeker. In these labour markets, mobility mostly affects which jobseekers find a job during a period. In a relatively better balanced labour market, the number of matches could be increased by additional mobility. 

During a period, an Unemployment Fund (UF) handles members and beneficiaries, at a cost. In this, they are more or less efficient. Four optimizations indicate that the aggregate cost may be reduced by as much as 35 per cent. In the process, the inefficient UFs are identified. Moreover, the reason for inefficiency is also investigated, since the economical efficiency (CRS) is separated into production-mix efficiency, technical efficiency (VRS), and scale efficiency. The results indicate both an optimal production mix and scale. This information can be used in the discussion of future structural change.

This thesis consists of four individual essays, and a joint introduction. The theme of these essays is interaction in and integration of regional labour markets. In view of this theme it is observed that economic activities are unevenly distributed across space. In the regional labour market workers’ supply of labour and firms’ demand for labour are matched. At the core of this thesis is the idea that the spatial structure of regions described, for example, by separation and accessibility measures, is important for the daily interaction pattern of workers and workplaces. Firms/workers all have a location, and given the associated spatial distribution, the accessibility to workers/workplaces differs between the locations. Consequently, analysis of spatial interaction aims at incorporating some form of spatial structure into the modelling framework. In the first essay, methods for identification of functional regions using commuting data are applied to Sweden in general and to the Fyrstad region in particular. In the second essay, a specific change in the commuting infrastructure is analysed. The possible effects on total wages earned, and the distribution of these benefits among classes of workers (identified by gender and education) are assessed. Essay number three examines whether in addition to differences in commuting behaviour between classes of workers there also exist regional variations. The fourth essay investigates barriers to commuting that can be associated with county borders.

Most Swedish local labour markets are geographically small. Each public employment services office defines a commuting area. Often, the shape of the commuting area appears to be influenced by the shape of the local labour market. The search area defined in the Swedish unemployment benefit rules (by the twelve-hour principle) most often includes the local labour market as well as the commuting area. Hence, the most frequent case is that the rules are not applied. Moreover, this indicates that jobseekers may face different mobility demands. It is also inferred that local labour markets is not the optimal spatial delimitation for studies of the unemployed persons search for a job.

In this paper, Swedish export is investigated, and data for export value and the number of firms that export is analysed. The main purpose is to compare constrained gravity models to gravity models without constraints. It is shown that constrained gravity models represent the export data in a relatively better way. The EU common market and transport economies are introduced into versions of the constrained gravity model, and the results show that the model fits the data even better.

This paper deals with the theoretical and empirical relations between living standard, quality of life, globalization and international competitiveness of countries. While economists are not convinced that competitiveness of countries is a useful concept, because firms and industries compete economically and not countries, the general public, journalists and politicians seem to feel that competitiveness is important. E.g., one of the goals of the European Union is to become the most competitive economy in the world. Furthermore, economists argue, that economic globalization has the potential of increasing economic welfare for all. In this case, the general public is more sceptical. Finally, the general public but even other scientists than economists, seem to believe that living standard and the quality of life are only weakly related to each other. The following results can be mentioned. We found strong positive correlations between our main variables. Our hypotheses are with other words supported.