Photo: Ann-Sofie Kolm

We want to congratulate Jon Olofsson who defended his thesis "An Economic Backbone of Development: Essays in Financial and Political Economy" on 16 February.

The thesis analyses the effect of the Swedish savings bank movement on economic development is Sweden during the first half of the 20th century. Exploiting variation in the openings and closings of the banks, he finds that bank presence enhanced innovation, industry, population growth, and reduced child mortality. The banks promoted the technologically advanced sectors, more dependent on external finance, such as mechanical engineering and electricity.

He also studies police killings and their impact on the public’s perception of the police. In the empirical analysis, the reaction to police violence depends on the racial identity of the victim and the observer.

We also want to thank opponent Marieke Bos, Docent and Deputy Director at the Swedish House of Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics, for an excellent discussion of the thesis.