AI-Econ Lab

Welcome

Welcome to the AI-Econ Lab!

At the AI-Econ Lab, we are interested in how rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) reshape the nature of work and especially for white collar workers and in services.

We are an international and multidisciplinary research team, with participants from several countries and disciplines (e.g., economics, computer science, law, and statistics). We combine tools from several disciplines and granular data to deliver excellent research insights on how to make firms and workers thrive in the presence of artificial intelligence. We also cooperate with relevant organisations, e.g., white collar worker and business organisations.

The AI-Econ Lab was initiated in 2019 and is led by associate professor Magnus Lodefalk in cooperation with professor Hildegunn Kyvik-Nordås. A steering group is also tied to the lab (Lodefalk, Kyvik-Nordås, and Schroeder).

The AI-Econ Lab is located at Örebro University, which is a hub for AI development in Sweden. The AI-Econ Lab also has two partner institutions, the Ratio Institute and Entrepreneurship Forum.

Conferences

The fourth AIEL conference on AI and White Collar Work will take place June 10-11, 2026, in Örebro, Sweden, at Katrinelunds Gästgiveri & Sjökrog, by Lake Hjälmaren. The call for papers will open early in 2026. For more info about the AIEL conference, see, e.g., the website of the third AIEL conference.

For previous conferences of AI-Econ Lab, see the tab Conferences.

Recent book

April 16, 2024, a new popular science book by Magnus Lodefalk - Artificial Intelligence and Work - is out in bookstores, published by the Ratio research institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Lodefalk thoroughly reviews the state of research around AI's development and effects on the labor market. The book is in Swedish (also as e-book) but we hope it also will be available in an English version.

Selected current news

2025

April 3, a commissioned report on AI in the public sector was launched at the Ministry of Finance, Stockholm, Sweden. The report focuses on productivity and labour demand implications. This is joint work of Magnus Lodefalk, Erik Engberg and Aili Tang. For an Op-Ed on the report, see Dagens Industri.

April 3, a new working paper on AI in the public sector, including both opportunities and challenges, was released at Örebro University (see the papers tab, and there the paper "Artificial Intelligence for Public Use"). Authors: Magnus Lodefalk, Erik Enberg, Rolf Lidskog and Aili Tang.

February 5, paper published in in Digital Society about Artificial Intelligence and Worker Stress, a joint work by Magnus Lodefalk and Michael Koch.

February 1, professor Michael Lechner joins the lab and Örebro University, as a guest professor.

2024

December, Fredric Skargren and Monisha Punith are joining as visiting junior researchers. Both are PhD students, from Örebro University and University of Antwerpen, respectively. Fredric is also an analyst at the Swedish Agency for Digital Government.

November, Hildegunn reviewed the WTO report entitled "Trading with Intelligence: How AI shapes and is shaped by Artificial Intelligence" and was on a panel at the launch of the report.

November, professor Michael Lechner will join the lab and Örebro University as a guest professor from February 2025 and for two years.

November 14, Hildegunn participated in an Expert Group meeting at the OECD AI observatory.

October 24, Hildegunn participated in a panel on AI standards organised by the International Technology Industry, this at Microsoft's Brussels offices.

September 13, Hildegunn presented the paper "Cross-border data flows and AI adoption: agent-based model simulations" at the ETSG conference in Athens.

August 19, Hildegunn presented on AI and gender at the APEC meeting in Lima, Peru.

August, Magnus Lodefalk presented on AI and the labour market at the government agency for digital government (DIGG), Sweden, and Hildegunn Kyvik-Nordås presented on AI, trade and jobs at APEC Senior Officials Meetings, Peru.

June, Erik Engberg presented on AI and the labour market at Almedalen.

June 18, a new working paper released at Ratio and at Örebro University (see the papers tab, and there the paper "Artificial Intelligence and Worker Stress: Evidence from Germany").

June 12-13, the third AIEL conference on AI and White Collar Work took place, in Örebro, Sweden, with 20 researchers from multiple countries attending.

June 11, Hildegunn presented the "AI Unboxed" paper at the EUROSHOCK conference in Oslo, Norway.

May, Erik Engberg was invited to present on AI and the labour market at the Ministry of Finance, Sweden.

April 8, blog column by Kyvik-Nordås at CEP about "Governing AI for Humanity: Thoughts on the UN AI Advisory Body Interim Report."

March 22, opinion piece in Dagens Industri about AI-related policies needed, by Lodefalk together with employer organisation Almega, trade unions Akavia and Swedish Engineers, as well as Ratio.

March 15, a new lifelong learning course was launched on AI and the (r)evolution of working life (in Swedish), given online Fall 2024 at 25%-speed. Registering now closed. Read more here.

March 6, paper published in Review of International Economics. The paper is called "Double whammy? Trade and automation in engineering services", and is joint work by Franziska Klügl and Hildegunn Kyvik-Nordås.

February 22, Lodefalk in a white collar trade union (Akavia) podcast, together with among others the Minister for Public Administration, Sweden.

January 25, Lodefalk presented at Statistics Sweden seminar.

Contacting the Lab

To get in touch, you may contact us at:

E-mail: magnus.lodefalk(at)oru(dot)se.
Phone: +46 (0)722 21 73 40
Mailing address: Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden

If you are interested in collaborating or writing theses, send us an e-mail. There may be possibilities for external funding for doctoral students and post-doctoral positions.

Previous news

2023

December 2023, two new working papers released at Ratio and at Örebro University (see the papers tab, and there the papers "AI Unboxed and Jobs" and "AI, Tasks, Skills and Wages").

December 7 - Research grant (dissemination) from Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius Stiftelse (Fh23-0069), 200k SEK.

December 7, Lodefalk becomes an government appointed member of an advisory board to the Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education.

November, Kyvik-Nordås held special lecture on joint work with Klügl at IFFT conference: "Double whammy? Trade and automation in engineering services".

November 30, Engberg presenting his paper (with coauthors) at the SWEGPEC Workshop, with the title "AI Unboxed - Firm-Level Evidence from Three Countries".

November 23, Lodefalk presenting at the Swedish Society of Medicine, Örebro.

November 20-24, associate professor Michael Koch, Aarhus Uni., DK, visiting the lab.

November 16, Lodefalk presented at Swedish Universities and Colleges, Expertgroup on business administration.

November 15 - Research grant from Torsten Söderbergs Stiftelse (ET3/23), 788k SEK. (Press info)

November 10, Engberg and Lodefalk presented at the Swedish Public Employment Agency.

October 27, Engberg is featuring with some of our research in an episode of a documentary YouTube series about digitalisation.

October, Kyvik-Nordås is appointed as an AI-expert at the OECD.AI Network of Experts.

September 30, Engberg presented at the Workshop in AI+Economics at ETH Zürich

June 20, call for papers released for the third AIEL conference, taking place June 12-13 2024.

June 8, Lodefalk and Tang commissioned to write an expert ESO-report on AI and the public sector.

May, Engberg and Lodefalk presented at the Swedish Media Association, annual conference.

May 23, Engberg and Lodefalk presented at Ratio seminar on how AI affects the labour market.

March 29, Lodefalk interviewed by Swedish TV4 Channel.

March 13, Lodefalk interviewed by Swedish Broadcasting, SVT(a,b) for the news and Ekonomibyrån.

February, Engberg and Lodefalk interviewed about the AI-Econ Lab research on AI and jobs, at the podcast ORU-Talks.

January 25, Magnus Lodefalk participates in a podcast episode about AI, work and our work environment, at The Employer Branding Geeks Podcast by Universeum.

January 2023, paper accepted for the proceedings of the forthcoming AAMAS conference: Klügl and Nordås, "Modelling Agent Decision Making in Agent-based Simulation - Analysis Using an Economic Technology Uptake Model".

2022

12 and 25 November, 2022, Erik Engberg presented his paper (with coauthors) at the Swedish Conference in Economics and at the SWEGPEC Workshop, with the title "New Work, Exiting Work, and Artificial Intelligence".

28 September 2022, two presentations at the WTO Public Forum, Hildegunn Kyvik-Nordås talking about "AI and Services" and on "Digital Services".

24 June 2022, virtual presentation at the APEC meeting, Hildegunn Kyvik-Nordås talking about "AI and Services Trade".

15-16 June 2022, the 2nd AIEL Conference took place, with participants from three continents and four disciplines.

8 June 2022, we welcome Mark Granberg as a postdoc in the lab, placed at Ratio Institute and Örebro University. Welcome Mark Granberg! Mark G starts after the summer.

21 March 2022, new working paper released on "Artificial Intelligence, Trade and Services Jobs" (TIISA WP 2022-14).

18 February 2022, presentation at the PILLARS conference, online, of our paper "New work, exiting work and artificial intelligence" (post-conference video)

1 February 2022, we welcome Mark Hellsten as a PhD-student in the lab, placed at Aarhus University and the Ratio Institute. Welcome Mark!

10 January 2022, CEP blog column, "Double Whammy? The Impact of Trade and Automation on High-Skilled Jobs", by Hildegunn Kyvik-Nordås and Franziska Klügl .

4 January 2022, new working paper released on AI-enabled automation, trade and the future of engineering services (ORU Working Paper in Economics 16/2021).

2021

December, TIISA policy brief published: "The EU Digital Market Regulations: Rule-Maker or Deal-Breaker?"

26 November - Two new PhD students recruited, starting at Aarhus University and Ratio in February and September 2022.

26 November - Research grant from Torsten Söderbergs Stiftelse (E46/21), 1.4 mn SEK. (Press info)

24 November - Ratio Seminar with Hildegunn Kyvik-Nordås and Franziska Klügl on the paper "Trade and Automation: The Case of Engineering"

8-12 November, the 3rd TIISA Annual Conference took place, with 14 papers discussed, 3 keynotes (E. Christen, I. Walden and S. Kortum), a panel seminar, and a roundtable (incl., e.g., Richard Baldwin, Lucian Cernat, and representatives from Google). Contributions in the fields of economics, business, law and political science. The Conference theme was "Trade and the Digital Transformation of Services". Venues: Örebro and Stockholm, Sweden, and online (hybrid format).

2 September, GLO Virtual Seminar with Magnus Lodefalk on the paper "New Work, Exiting Work and Artificial Intelligence"

27 August 2021, upcoming call for the TIISA Annual Conference 2021, this time at the AI-Econ Lab. Theme: "Trade and the Digital Transformation of Services". Dates 8-12 November 2021.

20 August 2021, new PhD position open at the AI-Econ Lab, positioned at Aarhus University, DK, and Ratio, SE. Apply here.

10 May 2021, paper published in Frontiers in Robotics and AI: "Drivers of automation and consequences for jobs in engineering services: an agent-based modelling approach".

April 2021, paper on labour dynamics and AI accepted for the ILERA world congress.

2020

23 December, 2020, new working paper released on the drivers of automation and consequences for jobs in engineering services (ORU Working Paper in Economics 16/2020).

25 November, 2020, Conference online on "The Impact of AI on White Collar Work".

19 November, 2020, presentation at the Trade Policy Research Forum, a monthly webinar series.

November 2020, presentation of two papers at the TIISA annual conference and PhD workshop, Beijing and online.

14 October, 2020 - Call for Papers - Conference online on "The Impact of AI on White Collar Work", November 25 2020.

1 October, 2020 - Two AI-Econ Lab papers accepted for an upcoming international conference.

4 June, 2020, presentation at the AGAINST20 workshop, at the annual International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) of the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society.

12 May, 2020 - Research grant from Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius Stiftelse (Fv20-0023), 227k SEK.

18 March, 2020 - PhD student recruited (starts August 17, 2020).

16 February, 2020 - Deadline for applying to our PhD-position in economics, financed by the Ratio Institute.

2019

4 September, 2019 - Presentation of the research, Economic Policy Forum, Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum, Stockholm.

13 May, 2019 - Research grant from Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius Stiftelse (P19-0234), 1.5 mn SEK.

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