We examine immigrant self-employment in Sweden during 2011–2021 – a turbulent decade with a large influx of refugees into the country and the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Four outcome variables are investigated: the probability of self-employment, the probability of entry into and exit from this state and earnings of the self-employed. This is done for different cohorts of immigrants from Africa and Asia and for different types of businesses, unincorporated and incorporated firms. We find that immigrants have lower business earnings and higher exit rates from self-employment than natives, which is in line with previous research.

It also turns out that the period in which the immigrants arrived to Sweden and the type of business they are engaged in have important implications for outcomes. In most cases, outcomes are more favorable for the earliest of the three cohorts we study, those who came to Sweden up to the turn of the millennium, and less so for the latest arrivals during the turbulent decade. Moreover, immigrants in incorporated self-employment who arrived during 2011–2021 fared less badly, relative to earlier cohorts, in terms of business earnings than their counterparts in unincorporated businesses, while results concerning exits from self-employment are mixed in this respect.

In a field experiment, we study the causal effects of previous experience and language skills when newly arrived Syrian refugees in Sweden apply for low-skilled jobs. We find no evidence of sizeable effects from previous experience or completed language classes on the probability of receiving callback from employers. However, female applicants were more likely than males to receive a positive response. As a complement to the experiment, we interview a select number of employers, which provides additional insights into how they judge candidates for low-skilled jobs.

Lokala bankkontor, goda möjligheter till transporter samt kollektivtrafik av hög kvalitet är således viktiga faktorer för ett framgångsrikt företagande i Kronobergs län, skriver Lina Aldén, Mats Hammarstedt och Per Skedinger vid Linnéuniversitetet.

Säkerställ att kollektivtrafik och transporter till landsbygden håller hög kvalitet, uppmanar forskarna Lina Aldén, Mats Hammarstedt och Per Skedinger.

Our use of longitudinal register data combined with a unique survey allows us to offer a more comprehensive picture of rural self-employment than in previous studies. We find that self-employed in rural settings are more likely than those in metropolitan regions to employ others, but self-employment rates in rural areas are lower. There is substantial heterogeneity among the rural self-employed; in-movers are quite different from stayers in terms of their perceptions of the conditions necessary for business success and their employment practices. Policy initiatives aimed at fostering development in rural areas should consider these distinctions.

Utredningen om tryggare bostadsområden bortser helt från att rätt utformade åtgärder också skulle kunna stärka utsatta gruppers situation på bostadsmarknaden. Det menar professor Mats Hammarstedt och forskaren Per Skedinger. 

För att nå jämlikhet mellan personer med olika sexuell läggning behöver vi förändra de strukturer som styr mäns och kvinnors möjligheter på arbetsmarknaden, skriver Mats Hammarstedt, professor i nationalekonomi Linnéuniversitetet.

Den som pläderar för införandet av ett mått för själv­försörjning har mer att fundera över än enbart vid vilken inkomst­gräns en person kan anses vara själv­försörjande. Det skriver professor Mats Hammarstedt i en replik.

The development of methods for detecting labour market discrimination is characterized by a shift from observational data to different forms of experimental data. At the same time, there has been a shift from examining differences in treatment of groups of employees to differences in hiring.

Observational data are associated with omitted variable problems. Field experiments in the form of audit and correspondence studies give better control of what is observed by both employers and the researcher. A limitation is that they can typically be employed only for certain types of (low-skill, early career) jobs and the initial (call-back) stage of the hiring process. Another is that employers’ beliefs cannot be controlled for. Natural and lab experiments can address some of these concerns. Most studies are not able to distinguish theories of between taste-based and statistical discrimination.