This article analyses the impact of skill portfolios and labour mobility on plant performance by means of a unique database that connects attributes of individuals to features of plants for the whole Swedish economy. We found that a portfolio of related competences at the plant level increases significantly productivity growth of plants, in contrast to plant portfolios consisting of either similar or unrelated competences. Based on the analysis of 101,093 job moves, we found that inflows of skills that are related to the existing knowledge base of the plant had a positive effect on plant performance, while the inflow of new employees with skills that are already present in the plant had a negative impact. Our analyses also show that geographical proximity influences the effect of different skill inflows. Inflows of unrelated skills only contribute positively to plant performance when these are recruited in the same region. Labour mobility across regions only has a positive effect on productivity growth of plants when this concerns new employees with related skills.

ELIASSON K., LINDGREN U. and WESTERLUND O. (2003) Geographical labour mobility: migration or commuting?, Reg. Studies 37 , 827-837. In this paper, we examine how individual labour market status and spatial variations in employment opportunities influence interregional job search behaviour and mobility decisions in Sweden. The econometric analysis is based on 290,000 individual observations and refers to the years 1994-95. The empirical results show that the probability of interregional labour mobility unexpectedly decreases with the accessibility to employment opportunities in neighbouring regions. As expected, the findings reveal that accessibility to job openings in surrounding regions significantly increases the likelihood of choosing commuting as the mobility mode. Moreover, the empirical findings indicate that individual unemployment experience increases the likelihood of mobility as well as migration. ELIASSON K., LINDGREN U. et WESTERLUND O. (2003) La mobilité géographique du travail: la migration ou les migrations quotidiennes?, Reg. Studies 37 , 827-837. Cet article cherche à examiner comment l'importance des marchés du travail et la variation géographique des possibilités d'emploi particulières influent sur le comportement pour ce qui est de la recherche d'emploi interrégionale et de la mobilité en Suède. L'analyse économétrique est fondée sur 290 000 observations individuelles et remonte à la période de 1994 à 1995. Les résultats empiriques laissent voir que la probabilité de la mobilité interrégionale du travail décroisse de façon inattendue en fonction de l'accessibilité des possibilités d' emploi dans les régions voisines. Comme prévu, les résultats laissent voir que l'accessibilité des possibilités de travail dans les régions environnantes augmente sensiblement la probabilité que les migrations quotidiennes vont devenir le mode préféré pour se rendre au travail. En outre, les résultats laissent voir que le profil individuel quant aux situations de chômage augmente la probabilité de la mobilité ainsi que de la migration. ELIASSON K., LINDGREN U. und WESTERLUND O. (2003) Geographische Mobilität von Arbeitskrä ften, Reg. Studies 37 , 827-837. In diesem Aufsatz wird untersucht, inwiefern in Schweden individuelle Arbeitsmarktstellung und räumliche Abweichungen bei offenen Stellen interregionales Verhalten bei Stellensuche und Mobilitä tsentscheidungen beeinflussen. Die ökonornische, Analyse stützt sich auf 290,000 Einzelbeobachtungen und bezieht sich auf die Jahre 1994-1995. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die Wahrscheinlichkeit interregionaler Mobilität von Arbeitskräften überraschenderweise mit der Zugänglichkeit offener Stellen in benachbarten Regionen abnimmt. Wie erwartet, zeigen die Befunde, daß die Zugänglichkeit offener Stellen in den Regionen der Umgebung die Wahrscheinlichkeit, Pendeln als Mobilitätsform zu wahlen, signifikant zunehmen läßt. Außerdem weisen die empirischen Befunde darauf hin, daß derjenige, der weiß, was es bedeutet, arbeitslos zu sein, eher zu Mobilität wie auch zu Wan...

This study investigates the relationship between labour market externalities and regional growth based on real labour flows. In particular, we test for the importance of labour mobility across so-called skill-related industries. We make use of a sophisticated indicator that measures the degree of skillrelatedness between all industries, and we employ actual labour flows between 435 4-digit industries within 72 Swedish functional labour market regions to estimate how labour market externalities are related to regional growth in the period 1998-2002. Both our fixed effect models and GMMestimates demonstrate that a strong intensity of intra-regional labour flows between skill-related industries impacts positively on regional productivity growth, but less so on regional employment growth. Labour mobility between unrelated industries tends to dampen regional unemployment growth while a high degree of intra-industry labour flows is only found to be associated with rising regional unemployment.

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This is the published version of a paper published in Demography. Citation for the original published paper (version of record):Strömgren, M., Tammaru, T., Danzer, A., van Ham, M., Marcińczak, S. et al. (2014) Factors shaping workplace segregation between natives and immigrants. Abstract Research on segregation of immigrant groups is increasingly turning its attention from residential areas toward other important places, such as the workplace, where immigrants can meet and interact with members of the native population. This article examines workplace segregation of immigrants. We use longitudinal, georeferenced Swedish population register data, which enables us to observe all Demography (2014) We compare estimates from ordinary least squares with fixed-effects regressions to quantify the extent of immigrants' self-selection into specific workplaces, neighborhoods, and partnerships, which may bias more naïve ordinary least squares results. In line with previous research, we find lower levels of workplace segregation than residential segregation. The main finding is that low levels of residential segregation reduce workplace segregation, even after we take into account intermarriage with natives as well as unobserved characteristics of immigrants' such as willingness and ability to integrate into the host society. Being intermarried with a native reduces workplace segregation for immigrant men but not for immigrant women.