Lina Aldén (fd Andersson)

Lina Aldén is an Associate Professor of Economics. Her research focuses on various aspects of social and economic inequality, with the aim of informing policy discussions and interventions. She has studied the integration of foreign-born individuals into the labor market, with a particular emphasis on self-employment, as well as how sexual orientation affects income, work opportunities, and family formation. She has utilized experimental methods to examine discrimination in the labor and housing markets. Additionally, she has investigated how social gender norms influence educational choices.

Her current research centers around topics related to family formation and fatherhood, including recent trends in male childlessness and father’s parental leave uptake.

Current teaching includes the courses Economics of Migration (undergraduate) and Advanced Labour Economics (master). She also serves as the coordinator for the specialization in Economics within the Business and Economics program.

Lina Aldén obtained her PhD in Economics from Växjö University 2009 and become Associate Professor at Linnaeus University in 2013. She has also been a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. Aldén has served as an editor for Ekonomisk Debatt and as a member in the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council. She currently serves as a member for the faculty board for the School of Business and Economics. 

New working papers

"Who Becomes a Father? The Rising Importance of Non-Cognitive Ability", joint with Lina Aldén and Marianne Sundström. Available at SSRN.

"Fathers But not Caregivers", joint with Lina Aldén and Malin Tallås Ahlzén. Available at SSRN.

Ongoing projects (selection)

CHILDLESS MEN AND FATHERS WHO TAKE NO PARENTAL LEAVE

Joint with Lina Aldèn (Linneaus University), Malin Tallås Ahlzén (SOFI) and Marianne Sundström (SOFI); Funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the Jan Wallander & Tom Hedelius Foundation.

This project aims to investigate the causal mechanisms behind male childlessness and the lack of or low usage of parental leave among fathers. As the extensive margins of male fertility and parental leave have been largely overlooked in the existing literature, despite their relevance for both research and policy, our project fills a knowledge gap.

The main results of the project are summarized in the SNS research report "The Modern Father - Changing Preconditions for Fatherhood". 

DIVERSTIY IN THE LABOUR MARKET

Joint with Jens Agerström (LNU), Ali Ahmed (LiU), Magnus Carlsson (LNU), Stefan Eriksson (UU), Mats Hammarstedt (LNU), and Dan-Olof Rooth (SOFI); funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR)

This is a multidisciplinary research environment financed by the Swedish Research Council 2019–2024. The main purpose and long-term goal of the environment is to gain knowledge regarding what measures are effective in promoting diversity in the labor market.

SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN RURAL AREAS

Joint with Mats Hammarstedt (LNU) and Per Skedinger (IFN); funded by the Kamprad Foundation.

This project investigates self-employed individuals in rural areas of Sweden using a combination of population-wide register data and a unique survey that targets a large representative sample of the entire self-employed population. We aim to identify the characteristics of individuals who start and operate businesses in rural areas and determine the key factors for running a successful business in these areas compared to other regions in Sweden.