Erika Forsberg defends her doctoral thesis
“Labor-market inequality: Essays on the roles of families, firms, location, and criminal records"

The thesis explores various dimensions of how the labor market influences individuals’ labor market outcomes, where the thesis explores dimensions such as the role of geographical labor markets, firms, and information access in the labor market.

The results show that the labor market conditions individuals face matter for individuals' career opportunities. For example, the size of the labor market matters, where individuals in larger labor markets work in occupations where their skills are more valuable.

Moreover, the thesis shows that firms are an important explanation for the persistence of income across generations and that individuals’ labor market possibilities are affected when new information about criminal history becomes available.

Overall, the results indicate that policies to equalize human capital might not be enough to eliminate inequality, policies focusing directly on the labor market might also be necessary.