- Campus Tunga (NTNU), Tungasletta 2.
NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway. - 0047-90946148
- Development Economics, History of Economic Thought, International Macroeconomics, Politics of Oil Revenue Management, Political Economy, Philosophy Of Economics, and 5 moreResource-rich economies, International Economics, Public Economics, Public Policy - Social Welfare Policy, and Universal Basic Incomeedit
- I am an Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). I hold a PhD in Economics f... moreI am an Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). I hold a PhD in Economics from the Department of Economics at NTNU.
Managing Editor of the Journal of Income Distribution (JID).
My latest research is at the intersection between Public Economics, Labor Economics and Political Economy, with a focus on (i) economic inequality and (ii) policy-relevant questions related to the «Nordic model» of economic development and welfare.
I teach Economics and Social Policy at the highly interdisciplinary department of Social Work at NTNU, giving lectures on Economics of the Welfare State, Social and Welfare Policy, Quantitative Methods.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice (JPFPC).
Country Lead for Norway of the Global Labor Organization (GLO).
I am available to join consortia for Horizon 2020 projects. My university NTNU has been involved in 100+ Horizon 2020 projects.edit
Numerous studies have documented that misperceptions about society, e.g. related to inequality, are widespread among voters. Simultaneously, a separate body of literature demonstrates increasing political polarization. Against this... more
Numerous studies have documented that misperceptions about society, e.g. related to inequality, are widespread among voters. Simultaneously, a separate body of literature demonstrates increasing political polarization. Against this background, it is intuitively appealing to hypothesize that information provision can be useful not only to correct misperceptions, but also to create a common ground that can bridge divisiveness. In a general population survey, conducted in the United States, we show that beliefs in the power of information to reduce polarization are indeed widespread. To investigate the empirical relationship between information provision and polarization, we conduct a systematic literature review. We focus on papers that study the effect of information treatments on redistributive policy preferences, exploiting the fact that they often investigate heterogeneities in the reaction to information treatment. Our review shows that while it is certainly possible for information to decrease polarization, the effect is frequently the opposite. The reason is that different groups react differently to truthful and accurate information, in ways that often reinforce existing preferences.
Research Interests:
According to standard measures of income inequality, the Nordic countries rank among the most equal economies in the world. This paper studies whether and how this picture changes when the focus is on inequality of income composition,... more
According to standard measures of income inequality, the Nordic countries rank among the most equal economies in the world. This paper studies whether and how this picture changes when the focus is on inequality of income composition, meaning the heterogeneity in individuals’ factor income shares. We show that, for all countries, a shift in capital incomes toward the top since the early 1990s causes rising heterogeneity in individuals’ factor income shares. To explain this result, we highlight the role of dual taxation systems. For Denmark in 2009–2013, Finland (1990–2007), and Norway (1991–2005), rising capital shares contributed to changes in personal income inequality, while for Sweden our results lead to disregard the capital share as a determinant of increasing income inequality.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper shows that perceptions of inequality are a key factor in the formation of preferences for redistribution and thereby in the determination of the equilibrium redistribution level. We build on the novel stylized facts provided by... more
This paper shows that perceptions of inequality are a key factor in the formation of preferences for redistribution and thereby in the determination of the equilibrium redistribution level. We build on the novel stylized facts provided by the recent empirical and experimental literature on perceptions of income inequality. In brief, the emerging consensus is that agents incorrectly estimate the shape of the income distribution because of limited information. Agents with income above the mean believe they are poorer than they actually are, and agents with income below the mean believe themselves to be richer. We revisit the standard framework on the political economy of redistribution and extend it in two ways. First, we assume a more general two-sided inequality aversion. Second, we incorporate perceptions of income inequality in the model. We show analytically that the equilibrium redistribution level is crucially determined by the interplay between the information treatment correc...
Research Interests:
In this article, we study the link between the functional and personal distribution of income, focusing on the case of Italy between 1989 and 2016. To this end, we rely on the novel concept of income composition inequality. Income... more
In this article, we study the link between the functional and personal distribution of income, focusing on the case of Italy between 1989 and 2016. To this end, we rely on the novel concept of income composition inequality. Income composition inequality focuses on how unequally the composition of income is distributed across the population. The higher the overall degree of income composition inequality is, the stronger the link between the functional and personal distribution of income. We show that the strength of this link decreased steadily in Italy over the period considered. This result is robust to the use of different definitions of capital and labor and different estimation techniques of the degree of income composition inequality. The implications of this result are twofold. First, fluctuations in the total factor shares of income are having an increasingly weaker impact on income inequality in Italy. Second, Italy is moving towards becoming a multiple sources of income soc...
In this article, we study the link between the functional and personal distribution of income, focusing on the case of Italy between 1989 and 2016. To this end, we rely on the novel concept of income composition inequality. Income... more
In this article, we study the link between the functional and personal distribution of income, focusing on the case of Italy between 1989 and 2016. To this end, we rely on the novel concept of income composition inequality. Income composition inequality focuses on how unequally the composition of income is distributed across the population. The higher the overall degree of income composition inequality is, the stronger the link between the functional and personal distribution of income. We show that the strength of this link decreased steadily in Italy over the period considered. This result is robust to the use of different definitions of capital and labor and different estimation techniques of the degree of income composition inequality. The implications of this result are twofold. First, fluctuations in the total factor shares of income are having an increasingly weaker impact on income inequality in Italy. Second, Italy is moving towards becoming a multiple sources of income soc...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
By exploiting large-scale administrative data on estimated gross and net personal wealth in Norway from 2010 to 2018, this paper establishes the first micro-level analysis of the difference between the real return on wealth and the real... more
By exploiting large-scale administrative data on estimated gross and net personal wealth in Norway from 2010 to 2018, this paper establishes the first micro-level analysis of the difference between the real return on wealth and the real growth rate of total pre-tax income across the entire net wealth distribution. We show that, for the top half of the distribution, the aggregate R-G underestimates its micro counterpart r-g, whilst the opposite happens for the bottom half, indicating that the micro r-g qualifies as a more precise measure to thoroughly analyze the dynamics of income and wealth inequality.
Research Interests:
This paper shows that perceptions of inequality are a key factor in the formation of preferences for redistribution and thereby in the determination of the equilibrium redistribution level. We build on the novel stylized facts provided by... more
This paper shows that perceptions of inequality are a key factor in the formation of preferences for redistribution and thereby in the determination of the equilibrium redistribution level. We build on the novel stylized facts provided by the survey experimental literature on perceptions of income inequality, highlighting that agents incorrectly estimate the shape of the income distribution because of limited information. Agents with income above the mean believe they are poorer than they actually are, and agents with income below the mean believe themselves to be richer. We revisit the standard framework on the political economy of redistribution and extend it in two ways. First, we introduce a more general two-sided inequality aversion. Second, we incorporate perceptions of income inequality, modeled by assuming that agents form expectations on the income level of the richest and the poorest in society. We show analytically that the equilibrium redistribution level is crucially determined by the interplay between the information treatment correcting the bias in perceptions of inequality and fairness considerations specified by the degree of inequality aversion. By doing this, we add (biased) perceptions of inequality to the list of potential factors explaining why, notwithstanding high inequality, an increase in the desire for redistribution has not been observed in many countries.
Research Interests:
This paper studies the relationship between wages and the unemployment rate across the wealth distribution. Using microdata from Norway covering the entire population of residents between 2000 and 2015, we introduce four novel findings on... more
This paper studies the relationship between wages and the unemployment rate across the wealth distribution. Using microdata from Norway covering the entire population of residents between 2000 and 2015, we introduce four novel findings on this relationship. First, the share of unemployed individuals belonging to the bottom decile of the gross wealth distribution is tenfold larger than that belonging to the top decile (34% and 3.2%, respectively). Second, the share of unemployed individuals belonging to the bottom decile of the gross wealth distribution moves in the opposite manner to that of the top decile. Third, the negative slope of the wage curve is confirmed. Fourth, the wage-to-unemployment ratio increases monotonically with gross wealth.
Research Interests:
This paper shows that perceptions of inequality are a key factor in the formation of preferences for redistribution and thereby in the determination of the equilibrium redistribution level. We build on the novel stylized facts provided by... more
This paper shows that perceptions of inequality are a key factor in the formation of preferences for redistribution and thereby in the determination of the equilibrium redistribution level. We build on the novel stylized facts provided by the recent empirical and experimental literature on perceptions of income inequality. In brief, the emerging consensus is that agents incorrectly estimate the shape of the income distribution because of limited information. Agents with income above the mean believe they are poorer than they actually are, and agents with income below the mean believe themselves to be richer. We revisit the standard framework on the political economy of redistribution and extend it in two ways. First, we assume a more general two-sided inequality aversion. Second, we incorporate perceptions of income inequality in the model. We show analytically that the equilibrium redistribution level is crucially determined by the interplay between the information treatment correcting the bias in perceptions of inequality and fairness considerations specified by the degree of inequality aversion. By doing this, we add (biased) perceptions of inequality to the list of potential factors explaining why, notwithstanding high levels of inequality, in many countries, an increase in the desire for redistribution has not been observed.
Research Interests:
In this article, we study the link between the functional and personal distribution of income, focusing on the case of Italy between 1989 and 2016. To this end, we rely on the novel concept of income composition inequality. Income... more
In this article, we study the link between the functional and personal distribution of income, focusing on the case of Italy between 1989 and 2016. To this end, we rely on the novel concept of income composition inequality. Income composition inequality focuses on how unequally the composition of income is distributed across the population. The higher the overall degree of income composition inequality is, the stronger the link between the functional and personal distribution of income. We show that the strength of this link decreased steadily in Italy over the period considered. This result is robust to the use of different definitions of capital and labor and different estimation techniques of the degree of income composition inequality. The implications of this result are twofold. First, fluctuations in the total factor shares of income are having an increasingly weaker impact on income inequality in Italy. Second, Italy is moving towards becoming a multiple sources of income society. Finally, we conceptualize a simple rule of thumb for policy makers seeking to reduce income inequality in the long run: This rule relates fluctuations in the total factor shares and the level of income composition inequality to the specific income source to be redistributed.
Research Interests:
This research provides an overview of the recent developments in the functioning of the Nordic model of economic development and welfare. In order to provide a tractable conceptual framework, the paper starts by introducing the key... more
This research provides an overview of the recent developments in the functioning of the Nordic model of economic development and welfare. In order to provide a tractable
conceptual framework, the paper starts by introducing the key mechanisms of the Nordic economies, as framed in the most recent economic and political economy literature.
The three distinct but interrelated features of the Nordic model are a high degree of compression of wage differentials, a dynamic process of creative destruction and innovation, and a high level of public welfare spending. This framework is then used to interpret recent developments and future prospects, mostly related to the implications of population ageing and automation for the future sustainability of public spending in the Nordic economies.
conceptual framework, the paper starts by introducing the key mechanisms of the Nordic economies, as framed in the most recent economic and political economy literature.
The three distinct but interrelated features of the Nordic model are a high degree of compression of wage differentials, a dynamic process of creative destruction and innovation, and a high level of public welfare spending. This framework is then used to interpret recent developments and future prospects, mostly related to the implications of population ageing and automation for the future sustainability of public spending in the Nordic economies.
Research Interests:
This paper makes two contributions to the literature. First, by employing a macro-level institutional dataset on benefit levels for social assistance (SA) and minimum income protection (MIP) in 22 European countries in the period... more
This paper makes two contributions to the literature. First, by employing a macro-level institutional dataset on benefit levels for social assistance (SA) and minimum income protection (MIP) in 22 European countries in the period 1990–2013, I show that the adequacy of income support for low-income inactive individuals in European welfare states has been steadily decreasing since 1994. Second, the paper revisits empirically the hypothesis of a trade-off between the adequacy of out-of-work benefits and the public expenditure on active labor market policies (ALMPs). The empirical results of the fixed effects model show that the trade-off does not appear to be significant in any of the tested specifications. The results are robust to the introduction of a set of conventional controls related to the labor market.
Research Interests:
This paper produces a normative evaluation of fiscal rules for a resource-rich economy. Ad hoc fiscal rules might imply substantial welfare costs; the goal is to analyze the magnitude of these costs by quantitatively evaluating the... more
This paper produces a normative evaluation of fiscal rules for a resource-rich economy. Ad hoc fiscal rules might imply substantial welfare costs; the goal is to analyze the magnitude of these costs by quantitatively evaluating the relative welfare sub-optimality of these rules. I posit a closed form solution for the infinite horizon consumption problem of the planner of a resource-rich economy with resource price uncertainty and precautionary saving. The model is subsequently calibrated and simulated to provide a welfare-based comparison between the fiscal rules based on the Permanent Income Hypothesis and on the ad hoc Bird-in-Hand policy. The results of the simulation indicate the presence of a positive and substantial welfare loss suffered from switching to the Bird-in-Hand rule. This result is shown to be robust under different parameterizations.
Research Interests:
This paper investigates the long-run economic effects of large natural resource endowments, through a comparative quantitative case study. Focusing on three economic features of the so-called Nordic model, namely low income inequality,... more
This paper investigates the long-run economic effects of large natural resource endowments, through a comparative quantitative case study. Focusing on three economic features of the so-called Nordic model, namely low income inequality, high labour productivity growth, and high welfare spending, this study estimates the shocks to these key features in Norway after the country became one of the world's largest oil exporters. A synthetic control unit constructed by weighting Nordic countries that closely resemble the economy of Norway without being oil producers provides the most reliable comparison unit to estimate the causal effects constituting the paper's threefold contribution. First, results show that the resource windfall contributed to relatively higher top income shares, adding natural resources to the set of drivers of income inequality in Norway. Second, the resource windfall boosted labour productivity. Third, resource revenues contributed to financing the steadily increasing gap between Norway and other Nordic countries in the degree of welfare generosity, with generosity increasing in Norway relative to the others. Sensitivity tests through in-time placebo tests and difference-in-differences estimations confirm the validity of these results.
Research Interests:
The aim of this research is to examine the aggregate economic effects of large-scale oil extraction in Basilicata, a southern region of Italy. This paper is the first empirical attempt to test for a regional resource curse by constructing... more
The aim of this research is to examine the aggregate economic effects of large-scale oil extraction in Basilicata, a southern region of Italy. This paper is the first empirical attempt to test for a regional resource curse by constructing a comparison unit using synthetic control techniques. The comparison unit captures how Basilicata׳s economic activities would have evolved in the absence of the oil extraction industry. The negligible differences between economic parameters in Basilicata and in its comparison unit suggest that a large amount of oil extraction has had no detectable effect on Basilicata׳s economy. A set of tentative political economy explanations of the result of missing effects is also provided, based on control rights structure, the royalty tax rate and organized crime.
Research Interests:
This paper studies an overlapping generations model with selfish agents, natural resources and human capital externalities. The initial result is to quantify the economic effects of intergenerational transfers by comparing a complete... more
This paper studies an overlapping generations model with selfish agents, natural resources and human capital externalities. The initial result is to quantify the economic effects of intergenerational transfers by comparing a complete markets allocation with transfers to an allocation without transfers due to incomplete markets. The core contribution is then to show that a higher resource regeneration rate boosts the effect of transfers on economic growth for both allocations, although it also implies a higher gap in growth performances between them. Finally, it is shown that transfers can be financed through a constant lump-sum tax relative to the output level.
Research Interests:
This paper revisits the Dutch disease by analyzing the general equilibrium effects of a resource shock on a dependent economy, both in a static and dynamic setting. The novel aspect of this study is to incorporate two features of the... more
This paper revisits the Dutch disease by analyzing the general equilibrium effects of a resource shock on a dependent economy, both in a static and dynamic setting. The novel aspect of this study is to incorporate two features of the Dutch disease literature that have only been analyzed in isolation from each other: capital accumulation with absorption constraint and productivity growth induced by learning by doing. The conventional result of long-run exchange rate appreciation is maintained in line with the Dutch Disease literature. In addition, a permanent change in the employment shares occurs after the resource windfall, in favor of the non-traded sector and away from the traded sector growth engine of the economy. In other words, in the long-run both of the classic symptoms of the Dutch Disease remain in place.
Research Interests:
In the 1960, when “Production of commodities by means of commodities” by Piero Sraffa was published, the theoretical debate in economics was dominated by the keynesian and neoclassical economists. The theory of value and distribution of... more
In the 1960, when “Production of commodities by means of commodities” by Piero Sraffa was published, the theoretical debate in economics was dominated by the keynesian and neoclassical economists. The theory of value and distribution of the classical economists had been abandoned. Sraffa recalls this theory in his book, providing a new rigorous formulation of the surplus approach and creating the framework which will serve as a basis for future critiques of the marginalist approach. The crucial issue is the theoretical formulation of the change in relative prices with respect to changes in the distribution of income. The scope of this paper is to shed light on the historical development of this aspect of the theory. At first I will reconsider the work done by D.Ricardo, subsequently the innovations brought by Sraffa will be analyzed, with their implications for the capital controversy debate and the general critique to the neoclassic theory of value.
Research Interests:
As far as standard measures of income inequality are concerned, the Nordic countries rank among the most equal economies in the world. This paper studies whether and how this picture changes when the focus is on inequality of income... more
As far as standard measures of income inequality are concerned, the Nordic countries rank among the most equal economies in the world. This paper studies whether and how this picture changes when the focus is on inequality of income composition, meaning the heterogeneity in individuals' factor income shares. We highlight the structural change taking place in all the Nordic countries since the early 1990s, with rising inequality in composition of individual incomes due mostly to a shift in capital incomes towards the top of the distribution. We link this result to changes in taxation of factor incomes, by highlighting the role played by the introduction of Dual Income Taxation reforms in the 1990s throughout the Nordic countries. Our estimates of the degree of income composition inequality allow a descriptive analysis of the role of functional distribution as a determinant of personal income inequality in the Nordics. We show that for Denmark in the period 2009-2013, Finland 1990-2007, and Norway 1991-2005, rising capital shares of income contributed to changes in personal income inequality, whilst for Sweden the evidence leads to disregard the capital share as a determinant of income inequality.
Research Interests:
We study the evolution of inequality in income composition in terms of capital and labor income in Italy between 1989 and 2016. We document a rise in the share of capital income accruing to the bottom of the distribution, whilst the top... more
We study the evolution of inequality in income composition in terms of capital and labor income in Italy between 1989 and 2016. We document a rise in the share of capital income accruing to the bottom of the distribution, whilst the top of the distribution increases its share of labor income. This implies a falling degree of income composition inequality in the period considered and, hence, the fact that Italy is moving away from being an economy composed of poor laborers and rich capitalists. This result is robust to the use of different definitions of capital and labor income. A falling degree of income composition inequality implies a weaker link between the functional and personal distributions of income. Therefore, fluctuations
in the total factor shares of income are having an increasingly weaker impact on income inequality in Italy. Finally, we conceptualize a rule of thumb for policy makers seeking to reduce income inequality in the long run. This rule relates fluctuations in the total factor shares and the level of income composition inequality to the specific income source to be redistributed.
in the total factor shares of income are having an increasingly weaker impact on income inequality in Italy. Finally, we conceptualize a rule of thumb for policy makers seeking to reduce income inequality in the long run. This rule relates fluctuations in the total factor shares and the level of income composition inequality to the specific income source to be redistributed.