Mats, welcome to Karlstad Business School. Please tell us about your background
- Thank you. I am originally from Finland but I have lived in Sweden since 2018 and got my undergraduate degree in Economics at the University of Edinburgh. I completed my doctoral studies at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki and have a degree in Economics and Sociology from the University of Chicago. Economics is my passion.
Tell us about your research
- Broadly speaking, I am interested in applied microeconomics — various concrete social phenomena that can be explained by individual incentives. More specifically, my research studies peer effects (how the behavioural tendencies and perceptions of others affect your own actions), political economy/public economics (incentives for politicians and voters), family finances (incentives in couple formation), and to some extent economic philosophy. In other words, my interests are fairly broad.
One example of peer effects is people’s reluctance to be perceived as someone who receives social security benefits. This incentive is most likely weaker in areas where receiving benefits is not unusual. As a consequence, social services that are housed in buildings that enhance visitor visibility, for instance by not being directly on the street or by having several steps leading to the entrance, should have fewer visitors, especially in areas where receiving benefits is more unusual. I compared data from Google Street View to statistics from over 500 American social services offices in six different states and was able to identify an effect of building characteristics that enhanced visitor visibility.
An example of my research in political economy is a paper that addresses early voting. To the extent that identifiable groups tend to vote early, candidates in certain contexts have an incentive to amend their political platforms to target groups who vote later, not to the groups who have already voted, thereby maximising their appeal to as many voters as possible in the moment when they vote. Subsequently, advance voting benefits groups who vote late at the expense of other groups.
Why did you decide to go into Economics?
- At some point before my university studies, I realised that economists could form opinions about a vast number of things based on a fairly small number of powerful concepts. I was intrigued by the possibility to say so much about society using the fundamentally simple perspective that individuals do the best they can for themselves. I did consider going into Sociology or Philosophy, but I think the best match for me was the discipline I ultimately decided on.
How did you end up at Karlstad Business School?
- I was very happy in Västerås, but I had a very good impression of Karlstad University and was thrilled to get the offer. This seems like a place full of good people and interesting possibilities.
What will your duties be at Karlstad Business School?
- I think I will have fairly standard senior lecturer duties — research and teaching, probably supplemented by some supervision. That is ideal for me.
What will you bring to the table at Karlstad Business School?
- I have a particular fondness for ideas and research projects, and I would love to be able to make life a little better for other people through my own work as well as through input and comments on other people’s work.
