What factors determine national differences in the size and industry distribution of employment? This study stresses the role of business taxation, employment security laws, credit market policies, wage-setting institutions and the size of the public sector. We characterize these aspects of the economic policy environment in Sweden prior to 1990-91 and compare them to the situation in other European countries and the United States. Our characterization and international comparisons show that Swedish policies strongly disfavored less capital-intensive firms, smaller firms, entry by new firms, and individual and family ownership of business. We also compile evidence that these policies affect outcomes. Taking the U.S. industrial distribution as a benchmark that reflects a comparatively neutral set of policies and institutions, Sweden's employment distribution in the mid-1980s is sharply tilted away from low-wage industries and industries with greater employment shares for smaller firms and establishments. The Swedish rate of self-employment in the 1970s and 1980s is the lowest among all OECD countries. Compared to other European countries, Sweden has an unusually high share of employment in large firms.
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Paper provided by Research Institute of Industrial Economics in its series Working Paper Series with number
482.
Length: 41 pages Date of creation: 01 Jun 1997 Date of revision: Publication status: Published in Small Business Economics, 1999, pages 25. Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0482
Note: Forthcoming in Small Business Economics Contact details of provider: Postal: Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 8 665 4500 Fax: +46 8 665 4599 Email: Web page: http://www.ifn.se/ More information through EDIRC
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Find related papers by JEL classification: H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Jovanovic, B. & Nyarko, Y., 1996.
"Stepping Stone Mobility,"
Working Papers
96-26, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University.
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