Questions concerning the viability of egalitarian societies are relevant for all countries, rich or poor, egalitarian or inegalitarian. In all countries there are linkages between equality, social organization, and economic performance. These linkages are as important for the survival of the European welfare states as for the feasibility of an equitable society in general. Can Nordic-style welfare arrangements be introduced in all types of societies? Or are they only feasible in consensual, homogeneous and affluent societies with an extraordinary commitment to equality? Do the Nordic lessons have any relevance for countries that are conflict-ridden, heterogeneous, and poor? We study the feasibility of implementing welfare state arrangements in poor countries and to what extent the Scandinavian model can be understood as a development strategy. Can there be a welfare state for the poor? Welfare state arrangements are most needed where they are least developed. Welfare state arrangements in extremely poor countries could perhaps play an essential role for economic growth, social fairness, and gender equality.
Our findings
- An international fairness experiment
- The importance of institutions
- Income and inequality
- Growth and globalization
- Environmental challenges
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Selected publications
Fernandez , Raquel (2014); “Women’s Rights and Development”, in Journal of Economic Growth, 19(1), 37-80.
Gates, Scott and Roy Kaushik (2014); "Unconventional Warfare in South Asia. Shadow Warriors and Counterinsurgency", Farham, UK: Ashgate.
Gates, Scott with Marianne Dahl, Håvard Mokleiv Nygård, and Kaushik Roy (2014); “Continuity and Change in Continuity and Change in Asymmetric Warfare in Afghanistan: From the Mughals to the Americans”, in War and Statebuilding in Modern Afghanistan, co-edited with Kaushik Roy. London: Bloomsbury Press.
Hoel, Michael and de Zeeuw, Aart de. (2014), “Technology Agreements with Heterogeneous Countries”, in Toward a New Climate Agreement: Conflict, Resolution and Governance, Todd L. Cherry, Jon Hovi and David McEvoy (editors): Routledge.
Mitra, Anirban and Debraj Ray (2014); "Implications of an Economic Theory of Conflict: Hindu-Muslim Violence in India", forthcoming in Journal of Political Economy.
Storesletten, Kjetil with Fabrizio Zilibotti (2014); “China’s Great Convergence and Beyond,” forthcoming in Annual Review of Economics.
Awa, Angelique and Carl Henrik Knutsen (2013); "Landprofil: Kongo–Kinshasa" [Country profile: Congo-Kinshasa] in Sigrun Johnstad [Ed.] Afrikas 99% – økonomisk vekst, ulikhet og protest. Oslo: Fellesrådet for Afrika.
Bijak, Jakub with Solveig Christiansen and Jonathan Forster, Tobie Glestad, Nico Keilman, James Raymer, Peter Smith and Arkadiusz Wisniowski (2013): "Utilising Expert Opinion to Improve the Measurement of International Migration in Europe", Journal of Official Statistics 2013 ;Vol. 29.(4) p. 583-607.
Barth, Erling and Karl O. Moene (2013): “Globalization, labor market institutions and wage structure,” Nordic Economic Policy Review, vol. 1, 7-10.
Brekke, Kjell Arne with Rolf Golombek and Sverre A.C. Kittelsen (2013): “Is electricity more important than natural gas? Partial liberalizations of the Western European energy markets”, Economic Modelling, Vol. 35, 99-111.
Gancia, Gino with Andreas Mueller and Fabrizio Zilibotti (2013); “Structural Development Accounting.” In Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Theory and Applications (Tenth World Congress of the Econometric Society), D. Acemoglu, M. Arellano and E. Dekel (eds.), Cambridge University Press, August 2013.
Gates, Scott and Håvard Mokleiv Nygård (2013); “Soft Power at Home and Abroad: Sport Diplomacy, Politics and Peace-building," International Area Studies Review, 16(3): 235-243.
Greaker, M. and C. Hagem (2013); "Strategic Investment in Climate Friendly Technologies: The Impact of Permit Trade”, Environmental and Resource Economics, Springer, August 2013.
Greaker, Mads (2013); “Strategic Environmental Policy”, in Shogren J. F., (ed), Encyclopedia of Energy, Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, Amsterdam Elsevier , Vol 3, p. 313-320.
Greaker M. with K. Grimsrud (2013); "Hvordan sikre bærekraftig forvaltning av økosystemer?" Samfunnsøkonomen 3/2013.
Greaker, M. with C. Hagem and J. Hovi (2013); "Hvordan kan en internasjonal klimaavtale håndheves?" Samfunnsøkonomen 2/2013.
Harstad, Bård with Matti Liski (2013); “Games and Resources”, in Shogren J. F., (ed), Encyclopedia of Energy, Natural Resource, and Environmental Economics, Amsterdam, Elsevier, p. 1056.
Havnes, Tarjei with Edwin Leuven, Magne Mogstad and M. S. Bhuller (2013); “Broadband Internet: An Information Superhighway to Sex Crime?” In The Review of Economic Studies 2013, Vol. 80.(4) p. 1237-1266.
Hoel, Michael with Katinka Holtsmark and B. Holtsmark (2013); “Optimal harvest age considering multiple carbon pools – a comment,” In Journal of Forest Economics, Vol. 19 (1), 87-95.
Holtsmark, Katinka and Kristoffer Midttømme (2013); “Økt fornybar energi er et middel, ikke et mål,” Samfunnsøkonomen, 2013, 7, p. 10-12.
Irarrazabal, Alfonso with Andreas Moxnes and Karen Helene Ulltveit-Moen (2013); “Heterogeneous Firms or Heterogeneous Workers? Implications for Exporter Premiums and the Gains from Trade”, Review of Economics and Statistics 2013 ; Volum 95.(3), pages 839-849.
Jakobsson, Niklas and Andreas Kotsadam (2013); “The Law and Economics of International Sex. Prostitution Laws and Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation” European Journal of Law and Economics 35(1).
Javorcik, Beata and Yue Li (2013); “Do the Biggest Aisles Serve a Brighter Future? Global Retail Chains and Their Implications for Romania”, Journal of International Economics, vol. 90 (2).
Knutsen, Carl Henrik (2013); "Democracy, State Capacity and Economic Growth", World Development, 2013, 43: 1-18.
Kodzi, I. and Ø. Kravdal (2013); "What has high fertility got to do with the low birth weight problem in Africa?" Demographic Research 28: 713-732.
Mideksa, Torben (2013); “The Economic Impact of Natural Resources” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 65 (2), 277- 289
Munga, Michael with Ottar Mæstad and Gaute Torsvik (2013); "Using incentives to attract nurses to remote areas of Tanzania: a contingent valuation study", Health Policy and Planning, March.
Rohner, Dominic with Mathias Thoenig and Fabrizio Zilibotti (2013); “Seeds of Distrust: Conflict in Uganda.” Journal of Economic Growth, 18 (3), 217-252, 2013.
Rohner, Dominic with Mathias Thoenig and Fabrizio Zilibotti (2013); “War Signals: A Theory of Trade, Trust and Conflict", Review of Economic Studies, 80 (3), 1114-1147.
Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene et. al. (2013); “Global Health 2035: A World Converging Within a Generation”, The Lancet; Volum 382.(9908), pages 1898-1955.
Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene (2013); “Comment on The Geography of the Great Recession”, In NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2012”, University of Chicago Press, Ch. 7, pages. 332-335.
Almås, Ingvild, Liane, Gro M. and Thøgersen, (2012): "Fra kinesernes sparing til global vekst". In Magma 6, pages 32-39.
Almås, Ingvild (2012): "International Income Inequality: Measuring PPP Bias by Estimating Engel Curves for Food". In American Economic Review 102 (2), pages 1093-1117.
Harstad, Bård (2012): "Climate Contracts: A Game of Emissions, Investments, Negotiations, and Renegotiations". In Review of Economic Studies 79 (4), pages 1527-57.
Harstad, Bård (2012): "Buy Coal! A Case for Supply-Side Environmental Policy". In Journal of Political Economy 120 (1), pages 77-115.
Hoel, Michael and Holtsmark, Bjart (2012): "Haavelmo on the Climate Issue". In Nordic Journal of Political Economy 37 (5).
Kravdal, Øystein (2012): "Further evidence of community education on fertility in sub-Saharan Africa". In Demographic Research 27, pages 645-680.
Moene, Karl Ove (2012): "Dissimilarities in Economic Evolution". In Nordic Journal of Political Economy 37.
Ray, Debraj, Anderson, S. (2012): "The Age of Distribution of Missing Women in India". In Economic and Political Weekly XLVII (47-48).
Ray, Debraj, Esteban, J. and Mayoral, L. (2012): "Ethnicity and Conflict: Theory and Facts". In Science 336, pages 585-865.
Ray, Debraj, Esteban, J. and Mayoral, L. (2012): "Ethnicity and Conflict: An Empirical Investigation". In American Economic Review 102, pages 1310-1342.
Tungodden, Bertil, Lars Ivar Oppedal Berge, Kjetil Bjorvatn and Kartika Juniwaty (2012): “Business Training in Tanzania: From Research-driven Experiment to Local Implementation”, in Journal of African Economies 2012 volume 21 (5) pages 808-827
Asheim, Geir (2011): “Comparing the welfare of growing economies.” In Revue d’economie politique 121 (1), pages 59-72.
Beyene, Berhe Mekonnen (2011): “How sensitive are Poverty Measures to the Choice of Equivalence Scale and Unit of Analysis? Evidence from Urban Ethiopia.” Forthcoming in Proceedings of the Seventh International Annual Conference on the Ethiopian Economy, Ethiopian Economic Association.
Harstad, Bård and Jakob Svensson (2011); "Bribes, Lobbying, and Development", American Political Science Review Vol. 105 No. 1, pages 46-63.
Lind, Jo Thori and Karl O. Moene (2011); "Miserly Developments", Journal of Development Studies Vol. 47 No. 9, pages 1332-1352.
Moene, Karl Ove (2011): ”Are Good Policies Good Politics?” In Dag Harald Claees and Carl Henrik Knutsen (eds.) Governing the Global Economy: Politics, Institutions and Development. Routledge, 2011, pages 160-170.
Ray, Debraj, with Esteban, Joan (2011): “A Model of Ethnic Conflict.” In Journal of the European Economic Association 9 (3), pages 496-521
Ray, Debraj with Esteban, Joan (2011): “Linking conflict to Inequality and Polarization.” In American Economic Review 101 (4), pages 1345-1374.
Song, Zheng, Kjetil Storesletten and Fabrizio Zilibotti (2011); "Growing Like China", American Economic Review Vol. 101 No. 1, pages 202-242.
Torvik, Ragnar; with Chacon, Mario and Robinson, James A. (2011): “When is Democracy an Equilibrium? Theory and Evidence from Colombia's La Violencia.” In Journal of Conflict Resolution 55 (3), 2011, pages 366-396.
Baland, Jean-Marie, Karl Ove Moene and James A. Robinson (2010); "Governance and Development", chapter 69 in Rodrik, Dani and Mark Rosenzweig (eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. 5, pages 4597-4656, North Holland.
Golombek, Rolf, Mads Greaker and Michael Hoel (2010); "Carbon Taxes and Innovation without Commitment", The B.E. Journals in Economic Analysis & Policy Vol. 10 No. 1.
Lind, Jo Thori, Karl O. Moene and Fredrik Willumsen (2009); "Opium for the Masses? Conflict-Induced Narcotics Production in Afghanistan", CESifo Working Paper Series No. 2573.
Almås, Ingvild (2008); "Equalizing income versus equalizing opportunity: A comparison of the United States and Germany", in Bishop, John and Buhong Zheng (eds.), Inequality and Opportunity, pages 129-156, Emerald.