When Places Change: Essays on Local Labor Markets and Individual Responses

This thesis consists of four self-contained empirical studies on how economic shocks and structural changes shape individual behavior and local outcomes.

Paper I examines how military base closures affect young adults’ education and labor market outcomes. The results show that men respond by increasing tertiary education, while women experience improved short-term labor market outcomes, suggesting gendered adjustment to local shocks.

Paper II analyzes how changes in parental housing wealth influence educational decisions. Increases in parental housing wealth during childhood delay tertiary enrollment but do not reduce long-run attainment.

Paper III investigates whether rural areas in Sweden have experienced disproportionate public sector retrenchment. The findings challenge this narrative: while certain state functions have declined, welfare services have been maintained or even expanded in rural areas, and satisfaction with public services has not deteriorated.

Paper IV studies the impact of shared e-scooters on traffic accidents. The introduction of escooters leads to a short-run increase in accidents, but the effect fades over time, suggesting adaptation by road users.