I am a phd candidate at the ifo Institute and the University of Munich, and affiliated with SOFI at Stockholm University. My supervisor is Prof. Helmut Rainer. I received my master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Uppsala University. In the spring of 2024 I visited the economics department at University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
My areas of interest are Family and Education Economics. My work focuses on how parental investments, family structure and background impact children’s educational performance and development. I am especially interested in the integration of migrant children and families.
I will be on the 2024/2025 academic job market.
Job market paper
In the Shadow of Brothers: Educational Achievements of Migrant Girls
Gender-bias in parental investments can have subtle implications for how education policies affect migrant girls. This study uses a regression discontinuity design to explore how Sweden’s school entry policy interacts with family structure to shape migrant girls’ educational outcomes. First, I assess the direct impact of late school entry on migrant girls’ academic performance, with attention to how this varies depending on the gender of their younger sibling. Second, I explore sibling spillover effects on migrant girls when an older sibling, either a sister or brother, enters school late. The findings reveal two key insights: Late school entry benefits migrant girls with younger sisters, but not those with younger brothers. Additionally, spending more time at home with an older brother who enters school late has lasting negative spillover effects on younger sisters’ educational outcomes. I propose a simple theory to explain these results, highlighting gender bias in parental preferences as a key factor. Bolstering this empirically, I present evidence showing that these negative impacts are specific to migrant girls, with neither migrant boys nor native children experiencing similar effects. Moreover, the effects are more pronounced in migrant families with traditional backgrounds and are also reflected in mothers’ labor supply decisions when sons, rather than daughters, enter school late.
Work in progress
Joint versus Sole Custody after Divorce: Causal Effects on Child Outcomes and Family Environment
Linguistic Distance and the Gender Gap in Education
Contact information
Email: hasselqvist@ifo.de
ifo Institute, Poschingerstr. 5, 81679 München Germany
On another note, I post book reviews and take care of my plants on my instagram @howshouldonereadabook