This issue of Nordic Economic Policy Review explores the implications of new EU-wide climate policy in the Nordic countries. All of them have introduced more ambitious targets for abatement than the EU, but are the national targets and measures consistent with the EU’s new Fit for 55 package? If not, how should national policies be made consistent with EU policy? EU directives set targets for national climate policy, but member states are free to choose the means of achieving them. Are national measures to meet targets set by EU directives efficient? If not, how can they be made so? What are the costs and benefits of national climate policy aiming for more stringent targets than those under Fit for 55? We have put these questions to experts on the economics of climate policy in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. 

This issue of the Nordic Economic Policy Review surveys the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the health and economic policies introduced to minimise its impact in the Nordic countries. Although national policies were broadly similar, they also differed in many respects. Given that some enjoyed greater success than others, comparing different policies and their effects may yield valuable lessons for the future.

The Nordic countries weathered the pandemic relatively well compared to most other high-income countries, both in terms of public health and economic repercussions. Infection and excess mortality rates were comparatively low in the Nordic Region, except in Sweden, where they relied more on recommendations and guidelines than mandatory measures to contain the spread of the virus. The fall in GDP was also comparatively small and short-lived in all the countries except Iceland, where tourism plays a more prominent role in the economy.

Nordic Economic Policy Review (NEPR) aims to convey policy-relevant, up to date research on different economic issues. The review produces one issue per year, each time with a new topic and researchers. NEPR strives to make the latest economic research accessible to both decision-makers and a broader audience, as well as to contribute to Nordic knowledge exchange on economic policy issues and challenges.

The Nordic Economic Policy Review (NEPR) is an annual publication presenting some of the latest and cutting-edge research into selected topics of economic policy. This publication provides a short summary of the five NEPR 2021 articles, which seek to answer the following questions:André Anundsen: What is the prevalence of house price bubbles in the Nordics?Erlend Eide Bø: Do buy-to-let investments lead to higher housing prices?Mats Bergman and Sten Nyberg: What explains the large increase in the relative cost of construction?Niku Määttänen: How can housing taxation improve social welfare?Essi Eerola: How do Nordic housing policies affect affordability and integration?

This issue of Nordic Economic Policy Review is devoted to Nordic housing markets and housing policies. Nordic housing markets face more or less the same problems and challenges, but the way policies and regulations deal with them differs in many respects. A comparison of policies, regulations and results across countries yields valuable lessons for policymakers. The work has been led and edited by Professor emeritus Harry Flam and Professor emeritus Peter Englund.

How well designed are the financial regulations that have been imposed after the global financial crisis in 2008–09 and the subsequent euro crisis? Will the new bail-in rules work in a systemic crisis, or do we risk further costly bail-outs by governments? How does monetary policy influence household debt? Have macroprudential tools been well-calibrated? Answers to these questions are crucial for judging the risks that the current corona crisis might also trigger a new financial crisis.

The 2020 issue of the Nordic Economic Policy Review consists of six papers, including an introduction by editors Lars Calmfors and Peter Englund.

The articles in the 2019 Nordic Economic Policy Review analyse how the Nordic countries best can contribute to international climate policy. The articles cover topics such as: How can the Nordics help raise the ambitions in the Paris Agreement? What is the effect of national policy on emissions regulated by the EU Emissions Trading System? Would it be cost-effective for the Nordic countries to pay for emission reductions elsewhere to a larger extent? What role should be played by subsidies to green technology? Should Norway put more emphasis on supply-side policies, that is, on limiting future extraction of oil and gas?

The volume contains five papers with associated comments which were originally presented at a conference in Stockholm on 24 October 2018.

The contributions document how income inequality in the Nordics in various dimensions have increased over recent decades. These developments are put in an international context. Developments in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden are compared. Important aspects analysed in detail are overall inequality of both market and disposable incomes, the redistribution through the tax and transfer system as well as through the provision of government welfare services, the importance of demographic factors, the developments of both relative poverty and top income shares, and gender inequality.

What can we learn from each other and others? Since the mid-eighties the Nordic countries have received a high influx of refugees relative to the population size. Currently these countries receive large numbers of refugees, notably from the Middle East. Existing studies exploiting the rich administrative registers in the Nordic countries have shown that the speed of labour market assimilation of immigrants from non-Western countries in the Nordic welfare states is slow. However, few studies distinguish between refugees and non-refugee immigrants from Non-Western countries.

Contents

• Foreword by Anna Piil Damm and Olof Åslund

1. Immigrant labor market integration across admission classes (Bernt Bratsberg, Oddbjørn Raaum, and Knut Røed)
2. Labour market integration of refugees in Denmark (Marie Louise Schultz-Nielsen)
3. Labor market integration of refugees in Finland (Matti Sarvimäki)
4. Labour market entry of non-labour migrants – Swedish evidence (Olof Åslund, Anders Forslund, and Linus Liljeberg)
5. The School Achievements of Refugee Children: Lessons from Sweden (Hans Grönqvist and Susan Niknami)
6. Does reduced cash benefit worsen educational outcomes of refugee children? (Kristian Thor Jakobsen, Nicolai Kaarsen, and Kristine Vasiljeva)
7. The fiscal impact of refugee immigration (Joakim Ruist)

The Nordic Economic Policy Review – NEPR – is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers. This year’s issue is part of the Danish presidency programme for the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2015. The review addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for in-formed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication.

The review appears once a year. It is published electronically on the website of the Nordic Council of Ministers: www.norden.org/en. On that website, you can also order paper copies of the Review (enter the name of the Review in the search field, and you will find all the information you need).

The Nordic Economic Policy Review – NEPR – is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers and addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for informed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The review appears twice a year. 

The Nordic Economic Policy Review – NEPR – is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers and addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for in-formed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The review appears twice a year.    

Content:

• Challenges in health care financing and provision - Tor Iversen and Sverre A.C. Kittelsen.
• Ageing populations: More care or just later care? - Terkel Christiansen, Jørgen Lauridsen and Mickael Bech. Comment by Anna Lilja Gunnarsdottir.
• Lifestyle, health and costs – what does available evidence suggest? - Kristian Bolin. Comment by Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir.
• The economics of long-term care: A survey - Helmuth Cremer, Pierre Pestieau and Gregory Ponthiere. Comment by Þórólfur Matthíasson.
• The role of primary health care in controlling the cost of specialist health care - Stephen Beales and Peter C. Smith. Comment by Helgi Tómasson.
• Payments in support of effective primary care for chronic conditions - Randall P. Ellis and Arlene S. Ash. Comment by Jørgen T. Lauridsen.
• An economic assessment of price rationing versus non-price rationing of health care - Luigi Siciliani. Comment by Mickael Bech.
• Should pharmaceutical costs be curbed? - Kurt R. Brekke, Dag Morten Dalen and Steinar Strøm. Comment by Helgi Tómasson.
• Productivity differences in Nordic hospitals: Can we learn from Finland? - Clas Rehnberg and Unto Häkkinen. Comment by Thorvaldur Gylfason.

The Nordic Economic Policy Review – NEPR – is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers and addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for in-formed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The review appears twice a year. It is published electronically on the website of the Nordic Council of Ministers: www.norden.org/en. On that website, you can also order paper copies of the Review (enter the name of the Review in the search field, and you will find all the information you need).

Managing Editor: Professor Torben M. Andersen, Department of Economics, University of Aarhus, Denmark. Special Editors for this volume: Research Professor Erling Barth, Institute for Social Research, Oslo, Norway and Professor Kalle O. Moene, Department of Economics, University of Oslo, Norway.

The Nordic Economic Policy Review – NEPR – is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers and addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for in-formed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The review appears twice a year. The journal is distributed free of charge to the members of the Nordic economic associations. The easiest way to subscribe to the NEPR is therefore to become a member of one of these associations, i.e.: Denmark: Nationaløkonomisk Forening Finland: Taloustieteellinen Yhdistys Norway: Samfunnsøkonomene Sweden: Nationalekonomiska Föreningen. For institutional subscriptions, please contact nepr@iies.su.se.    

Content:

• Economics of education: Policies and effects - Anders Björklund and Peter Fredriksson
• Long-term effects of early childhood care and education - Christopher Ruhm and Jane Waldfogel. Comment by Tarjei Havnes
• Recruiting, retaining, and creating quality teachers - C. Kirabo Jackson. Comment by Torberg Falch
• On the margin of success? Effects of expanding higher education for marginal students - Björn Öckert. Comment by Torbjørn Hægeland
• Gender differences in education - Tuomas Pekkarinen. Comment by Anna Sjögren
• Educating children of immigrants: Closing the gap in Norwegian schools - Bernt Bratsberg, Oddbjørn Raaum and Knut Røed. Comment by Lena Nekby
• The effects of education on health and mortality - Bhashkar Mazumder. Comment by Kjell G. Salvanes

The Nordic Economic Policy Review – NEPR – is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers and addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for informed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The Nordic Economic Policy Review is published twice a year. The journal is distributed free of charge to members of the Nordic economic associations. The easiest way of subscribing to the NEPR is therefore to become a member of one of these associations, i.e., Denmark: Nationaløkonomisk Forening Finland: Taloustieteellinen Yhdistys Norway: Samfunnsøkonomene Sweden: Nationalekonomiska Föreningen For institutional subscriptions, please contact nepr@iies.su.se    

Content:

• Introduction - Lars Calmfors and Bertil Holmlund
• Youth unemployment in Europe and the United States: David N.F. Bell and David G. Blanchflower. Comment by Oskar Nordström Skans
• Employment consequences of employment protection legislation - Per Skedinger. Comment by Assar Lindbeck
• Business cycle contingent unemployment insurance - Torben M. Andersen and Michael Svarer. Comment by Erik Höglin
• Is short-time work a good method to keep unemployment down? - Pierre Cahuc and Stéphane Carcillo. Comment by Ann-Sofie Kolm
• What active labor market policy works in a recession? - Anders Forslund, Peter Fredriksson and Johan Vikström. Comment by Clas Olsson
• Regular education as a tool of counter-cyclical employment policy - Christopher Pissarides. Comment by Björn Öckert

The Nordic Economic Policy Review is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers and addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for informed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The review appears twice a year. The journal is distributed free of charge to the members of the Nordic economic associations. The easiest way to subscribe to the NEPR is therefore to become a member of one of these associations, i.e., Denmark: Nationaløkonomisk Forening Finland: Taloustieteellinen Yhdistys Norway: Samfunnsøkonomene Sweden: Nationalekonomiska Föreningen. For institutional subscriptions, please contact nepr@iies.su.se.    

Content:

• The widening productivity gap between the EU and the US: An introduction to the conference on productivity and competitiveness - Jakob B. Madsen and Anders Sørensen.
• Up the hill and down again: A history of Europe’s productivity gap relative to the United States, 1950-2009 - Bart van Ark Comment by Matti Pohjola.
• Regulation, resource reallocation and productivity growth - Jens Matthias Arnold, Giuseppe Nicoletti and Stefano Scarpetta. Comment by Mika Maliranta.
• Human capital and productivity - Angel de la Fuente Comment by Pekka Ilmakunnas
• Productivity and international firm activities: What do we know? - Joachim Wagner. Comment by Markku Stenborg.
• Innovation and productivity - Bronwyn H. Hall. Comment by Ari Hyytinen
• A personnel economics approach to productivity enhancement - Edward P. Lazear and Kathryn L. Shaw. Comment by Tuomas Pekkarinen.
• Productivity and education: Benchmarking of elementary and lower secondary schools in Denmark - Peter Bogetoft and Jesper Wittrup. Comment by Timo Kuosmanen.

The Nordic Economic Policy Review is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers and addresses policy issues in a way that is useful for informed non-specialists as well as for professional economists. All articles are commissioned from leading professional economists and are subject to peer review prior to publication. The Nordic Economic Policy Review is published twice a year. The journal is distributed free of charge to members of the Nordic economic associations. The easiest way of subscribing to the NEPR is therefore to become a member of one of these associations, i.e., Denmark: Nationaløkonomisk Forening Finland: Taloustieteellinen Yhdistys Norway: Samfunnsøkonomene Sweden: Nationalekonomiska Föreningen For institutional subscriptions, please contact nepr@iies.su.se     Content: Introduction: Fiscal consequences of the crisis - Torben M. Andersen and Steinar Holden. Some lessons for fiscal policy from the financial crisis - Philip R. Lane. Fiscal policy and macroeconomic stability: New evidence and policy implications - Xavier Debrun and Radhicka Kapoor. Fiscal sustainability in the wake of the financial crisis - Torben M. Andersen. Fiscal policy and labor markets at times of public debt - Giuseppe Bertola. Fiscal costs of financial sector support: Measures and implications for fiscal policy - Daehaeng Kim and Manmohan S. Kumar. Monetary implications of the crisis: Dominance at stake - Charles Wyplosz. The Swedish fiscal policy framework - Robert Boije, Albin Kainelainen and Jonas Norlin.