Illustration photo: colourbox.noCrisis as the mother of social reform
Participants: Carl Henrik Knutsen and Kalle Moene
Under what conditions can economic and social crisis be conducive to productivity enhancing reforms? Many believe that crisis is the mother of progressive reforms and new social pacts. Our basic assertion is that the institutional response to the crisis reflects more the local national conditions prior to the crisis than the crisis itself.
The effects of the crisis: Wage and employment responses
Participants: Erling Barth, Bernt Bratsberg, Ana Rute Cardoso, David Card, Davis, Christian Dustman, Richard Freeman, Heinung, Kalle Moene and Oddbjørn Raaum
The crisis related labor demand collapses of Europe and North America provide a unique opportunity to explore how wages and employment respond to changes in economic conditions. We plan to estimate how individual wages respond to the crisis.
The effects of the crisis: EU legislative politics
Participants: Simon Hix and Høyland
How does the economic crisis change legislative politics in the EU? We are planning to develop a database that will enable us to compare the political effects of the crisis on different parts of Europe.
The effects of the crisis: European social values and social cohesion
Participants: Erling Barth, Finneraas, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, and Kalle Moene
Another way of approaching the social effects of the crisis is to use survey data on peoples' attitudes and perceptions. There are indications that the crisis has changed social preferences of people. The change seems to go in the direction of more individualism. If true, it indicates that social care disappears when it is most needed.
The effects of the crisis: collective bargaining by riots
Participants: Scott Gates, Halvor Mehlum, Kalle Moene and Stergios Skaperdas
The financial crisis and the euro crisis seem to undermine trust and social cohesion. Instead there are in many places social unrest, riots and anger.
We plan to explore the causes and consequences of rising strike incidences in several European countries. What are the consequences for choice of production techniques, social efficiency and income distribution?
Illustration photo. colourbox.noThe effects of the crisis: Macroeconomic policies in a union
Participants: Steinar Holden, Halvor Mehlum and Kalle Moene
The introduction of the common currency is the most important milestone in the European integration. When the European Commission lists the benefits of the euro it boils down to increased transparency in addition to the symbolic value of issuing one of the world's major currencies. These benefits may be substantial but the challenges and problems might prove to be even larger. We want to explore how this cross country fusion of monetary policy works with fiscal policy still at the country level.
The effects of the crisis: How soft is the European cushion? Earnings instability and income replacement in European welfare states
Participants: Tarjei Havnes and Kristin Solberg-Johansen
The income instability faced by individuals and households is both a key determinant of policy and a major policy concern. How much does the earnings instability translate into instability in disposable income in the different countries? How important are household adjustments to cushion against the earnings instability as compared to taxes and transfers, and how does this varies across European countries?