Research

My research and policy briefs have been featured in both international (The Economist, Wired) and Finnish (e.g. YLE, Helsingin Sanomat) media outlets. In addition, I’ve presented my work at multiple academic conferences, as well as at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in Finland.

You can find a list of my research also on my Google Scholar profile.

Working Papers and Work in Progress

New Evidence on the Effect of Technology on Employment and Skill Demand [link]
(with Aapo Stenhammar and Joonas Tuhkuri)
Under revision for the Quarterly Journal of Economics

Abstract: We present novel evidence on the effects of advanced technologies on employment, skill demand, and firm performance. The main finding is that advanced technologies led to increases in employment and no change in skill composition. Our main research design focuses on a technology subsidy program in Finland that induced sharp increases in technology investment in manufacturing firms. Our data directly measure multiple technologies and skills and track firms and workers over time. We demonstrate novel text analysis and machine learning methods to perform matching and to measure specific technological changes. To understand our findings, we outline a theoretical framework that contrasts two types of technological change: process versus product. We document that the firms used new technologies to produce new types of output rather than replace workers with technologies within the same type of production. The results contrast with the ideas that technologies necessarily replace workers or are skill biased.

Jobs, Workers, and Firms: Dissecting the Labour Market Effects of Finland's COVID-19 Subsidy Program [link]
(with Otto Kässi and Olli Ropponen)

Abstract: This paper examines the labour market impacts of Finland’s initial COVID-19 subsidy program, designed to mitigate the economic fallout of the pandemic. Utilising a novel and comprehensive dataset and a judge-leniency instrumental variables design, we analyse the effects of these subsidies at both the firm and worker levels. Our findings reveal nuanced effects: the program increased the wage sum in the treated firms and decreased the risk of unemployment. On the other hand, the subsidies reduced labour productivity in treated firms, potentially hindering creative destruction. At the worker level, subsidised employees fared better in subsequent years than workers in non-subsidised firms, with slight increases in annual salaries and a higher likelihood of being employed. However, these workers were more likely to be employed in lower-productivity firms. This paper contributes to our understanding of the implications of fiscal interventions during crises and provides critical insights for shaping future economic policies in similar contexts.

Policy Reports

Business Finland COVID-19 Support Funding – What Was Achieved, and at What Cost? (in Finnish) [link]
(with Otto Kässi and Olli Ropponen). December 2023.

Did Digitalization Increase the Resilience of Societies During the COVID-19 Pandemic? (in Finnish) [link]
(with Otto Kässi, Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö, and Mika Pajarinen). March 2023.

Are Global Value Chains Changing? (in Finnish) [link]
(with Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö and Mika Pajarinen). February 2023.

Policy Brief: New Evidence on the Effect of Technology on Employment and Skill Demand (in Finnish) [link]
(with Aapo Stenhammar and Joonas Tuhkuri). April 2022.

In Search of Upcoming Supply Chain Surprises: The World Export Market Shares of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine [link]
(with Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö and Petri Rouvinen). March 2022.

The Significance of Russia for Finnish Companies (in Finnish) [link]
(with Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö and Aki Kangasharju). March 2022.