Origins of the knowledge economy

While there is much theoretical and empirical literature examining the role of education in long-term growth, less understood is how different types of education — and the specialisation of skills implicit in higher education — shape development.

The research questions I consider are: To what extent did policy and institutional changes relating to higher education induce changes in patterns of educational attainment in Denmark, Norway and Sweden? How did these contribute to Scandinavia’s development during the period of industrialisation?

The twin purposes of this project are to:

• examine the role of higher education in Scandinavia’s industrialisation and long-term economic development from the nineteenth century onwards
• develop and apply new techniques for the measurement of human capital (education) and the analysis of its effects.

I employ two sets of novel Scandinavian source material: grade lists, which track student performance in high school and university; and graduate biographies, which provide details of students’ background, education and post-study careers.

My dissertation comprises four empirical analyses of higher educational attainment and its effects. Also related, but outside the framing of the dissertation, are two additional papers documenting the source material I use are.

Timeframe:
September 2020 – November 2024

Supervisors:

• Kristin Ranestad (primary)
• Paul Sharp
• Jonas Ljungberg