Erik Bihagen
Biographic Data
| ID | 276488 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Erik Bihagen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Erik |
| FAMILY NAME | Bihagen |
| SIGNATURE | BIHAGEN E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stockholm University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8800-9867 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 241 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Occupational earning potential: A new measure of social hierarchy in Europe and the US
Social stratification is interested in unequal life chances and assumes the existence of a hierarchy of more or less advantageous occupations. Yet occupations are not easily translated into a linear hierarchical measure. Influential scales combine multiple indicators and lack intuitive interpretation. We therefore present a new scale based on occupations’ earnings potential (OEP). OEP measures the median earnings of occupations and expresses them…
Later and less? New evidence on occupational maturity for Swedish women and men
A common assumption in the social stratification literature is that the lion’s share of people reaches occupational maturity quite early in working life, i.e., they end up in an occupation/class position and stay there. The conventional view is that career maturity is reached around the age of 35. By using Swedish longitudinal occupational biographies across six birth cohorts from 1925 to 1984, this study challenges this view. Our findings reveal…
Work life complexity no longer on the rise: Trends among 1930s–1980s birth cohorts in Sweden
There is a conception that contemporary work lives become ever more complex. Pioneering research has indicated that work lives have indeed become more complex, yet at a modestly increasing pace. This paper uses Swedish registry data across an exceptionally long time period, including cohorts born from 1931 to 1983. The following conclusions are drawn using state-of-the-art methods of measuring sequence complexity. For early-careers, an increasing…
Does Your Class Give More than a Hint of Your Lifetime Earnings: Assessing Indicators for Lifetime Earnings Over the Life Course for Sweden
From a sociological stratification perspective, we would expect occupationally based measures to be valid proxies for lifetime earnings, but recent research suggests that annual earnings outperform occupational measures. In this article, we examine how class, occupation, education, and annual earnings are associated with lifetime earnings across almost complete working lives, at ages of around 20-65 years for Swedish cohorts born in the 1940s. Ou…
Can class and status really be disentangled
Elite mobility among college graduated men in Sweden: Skills, personality and family ties
Using Swedish registry data, we study the chances of mobility into the Swedish labour market elite for men who graduated in the years 1985−2005. The elite is defined as top earners within mid- and large sized firms and within the public sector organisations (henceforth, we use organisation for both firms and public organisations). Using discrete time event history models, we study the incidence of elite entry in terms of external recruitment and …
Stress resilience in adolescence and subsequent antidepressant and anxiolytic medication in middle aged men: Swedish cohort study
Measuring the Potential Power Elite in the UK and Sweden
This paper proposes a methodology for using survey data to understand the composition of elites, through analysing the pool of potential members. An occupational-based measure of ‘potential power elite’ (PPE) is created and compared with other measures of occupational advantage. It is argued that this measure can be utilised to explore if the processes causing certain social groups to be under-represented in elite positions are around selection o…
Using occupation-based social classifications
Occupation-based social classifications are important social indicators, but are easily misunderstood. Using survey data from the UK and Sweden, we summarize the empirical relations between a number of alternative occupation-based social classifications. Results indicate similarity between most measures, though there are often quite considerable differences in the properties of related classifications according to the level of detail at which the…
The gender gap in the business elite: Stability and change in characteristics of Swedish top wage earners in large private companies, 1993–2007
Using unique Swedish register data on all employees in large private companies, we study trends in the gender composition of top wage employees from 1993 to 2007. The analyses reveal that the likelihood of women holding top wage positions has more than doubled since the early 1990s, but men are still markedly over-represented in this group of employees. We focus on educational choices, considering level and field of study as well as university at…
Class Origin and Elite Position of Men in Business Firms in Sweden, 1993-2007: The Importance of Education, Cognitive Ability, and Personality
Using Swedish registry data, we study the impact of class origin on becoming part of the business elite between 1993 and 2007 for men aged 35–44 years. The elite is defined as the top 1 per cent of wage earners within large firms. We find a clear working class disadvantage and, with time, a polarization between those of working class origin and others. Decomposition analyses indicate that differences in educational attainment levels cause a large…
Occupational Attainment and Career Progression in Sweden
We analyze occupational attainment and career progression over the life course for Swedish men and women, born in 1925–1974. Careers progress (measured as improvements in occupational prestige) fast during the first 5–10 years in the labour market, and flatten out afterwards (approximately between 30–40 years of age). This is in line with the occupational status maturation hypothesis. Both class origin and educational attainment affect occupation…
Does Class Matter Equally for Men and Women: A Study of the Impact of Class on Wage Growth in Sweden 1999—2003
It has been suggested that class schemas are appropriate for analysing class relations among men but not among women.This article examines wage growth patterns, i.e. a crucial aspect of class relations. There are several reasons why class would be less effective as a predictor of wage growth for women than for men: for example, that factors such as discrimination blur this association for women; and that women are over-represented in occupational…
Nya möjligheter för stratifieringsforskning i Sverige: Internationella yrkesklassificeringar och stratifieringsmått över tid
New opportunities for social stratification research in Sweden: International occupational classifications and stratification measures over timeThe Swedish occupational classifications have in recent years been changed to a version of the international standard ISCO-88(COM), i.e. SSYK 96. As a consequence, a wide variety of internationally well-known stratification measures can be applied to Swedish data sets. In this article some tests of the va…
Class Origin Effects on Downward Career Mobility in Sweden 1982-2001
This article sheds light on the impact of class origin on career mobility by focusing on downward mobility from the so-called Service I class, which is the most privileged class of employees within the EGP (Erikson-Goldthorpe-Portocarero) class schema. A substantial proportion of the incumbents within Service I originate from the working class. It could be assumed that these people would experience higher levels of downward career mobility. Using…
Are women over-represented in dead-end jobs? A Swedish study using empirically derived measures of dead-end jobs
Inlägg: Är det dags för en tvärinstitutionell redäktion
The Glass Ceiling - Where is it? Women's and Men's Career Prospects in the Private vs. the Public Sector in Sweden 1979-2000
Previous research suggests that women have more limited career opportunities than men. Using Swedish longitudinal data, covering the period between 1979 and 2000, more light is shed on the association between hierarchical levels and differences between men's and women's career opportunities in terms of occupational transitions. The analyses indicate that women face the greatest hinderance to advancement at lower hierarchical levels and that these…
Labour Market Rewards and the Neo-Classical Soup: An Analysis of the Relation between Social Class and Economic Inequalities in Sweden in the Last Quarter of the 20th Century
Earlier research indicates clear gaps in wages and wage mobility between social classes. However, it has been argued that classes may be in the process of dissolving. Using Swedish cross-sectional and panel data, the following conclusions are drawn. The mismatch between class and economic reward increased in the last quarter of the 20th century, i.e. the data show a growing proportion of people whose wages are similar to those in other classes de…
Vad alla bör ha råd med: En analys av vilken konsumtion som anses vara nödvändig i dagens Sverige
What everyone should be able to afford. An analysis of w hat kinds of consumptionare regarded as necessary in contemporary SwedenSome degree of consensus concerning perceptions of consumption is important to create and refine social policy as well as measures of poverty. Possible reasons for both consensus and certain social cleavages about what is perceived as necessities are discussed. Analysing data from Statistics Sweden’s 1998 Survey of Livi…
The Plausibility of Class Cultural Explanations: An Analysis of Social Homogeneity using Swedish Data from the Late 1990s
Previous findings of large absolute mobility to service I class (the 'upper' part of the 'salariat') can be seen as a sign of the implausibility of class cultures. However, it is argued that these findings might be due to inappropriate divisions of class. Using Swedish data, and following a Weberian definition of class, a social class schema is derived empirically from marriage tendencies. Social homogeneity (immobility and in-marriage) is found …
The Crucial Aspects of Class: An Empirical Assessment of the Relevance of Class Analysis with Swedish Data Covering the Late Twentieth Century
Class structure and class formation are two crucial aspects of class. The former relates to differences in market positions and the latter concerns social factors such as interaction, mobility and class action. This paper is based on Swedish data covering the period from 1975 to 1995. Analysis reveals a persistent class hierarchy and that there is no trend towards declining class differences regarding market position. The situation is better desc…
Culture consumption in Sweden: The stability of gender differences
How Do Classes Make Use of Their Incomes
Culture consumption in Sweden: The stability of gender differences
Using occupation-based social classifications
Occupation-based social classifications are important social indicators, but are easily misunderstood. Using survey data from the UK and Sweden, we summarize the empirical relations between a number of alternative occupation-based social classifications. Results indicate similarity between most measures, though there are often quite considerable differences in the properties of related classifications according to the level of detail at which the…
Occupational Attainment and Career Progression in Sweden
We analyze occupational attainment and career progression over the life course for Swedish men and women, born in 1925–1974. Careers progress (measured as improvements in occupational prestige) fast during the first 5–10 years in the labour market, and flatten out afterwards (approximately between 30–40 years of age). This is in line with the occupational status maturation hypothesis. Both class origin and educational attainment affect occupation…
Are women over-represented in dead-end jobs? A Swedish study using empirically derived measures of dead-end jobs
Can class and status really be disentangled
The Glass Ceiling - Where is it? Women's and Men's Career Prospects in the Private vs. the Public Sector in Sweden 1979-2000
Previous research suggests that women have more limited career opportunities than men. Using Swedish longitudinal data, covering the period between 1979 and 2000, more light is shed on the association between hierarchical levels and differences between men's and women's career opportunities in terms of occupational transitions. The analyses indicate that women face the greatest hinderance to advancement at lower hierarchical levels and that these…
The Crucial Aspects of Class: An Empirical Assessment of the Relevance of Class Analysis with Swedish Data Covering the Late Twentieth Century
Class structure and class formation are two crucial aspects of class. The former relates to differences in market positions and the latter concerns social factors such as interaction, mobility and class action. This paper is based on Swedish data covering the period from 1975 to 1995. Analysis reveals a persistent class hierarchy and that there is no trend towards declining class differences regarding market position. The situation is better desc…
Class Origin and Elite Position of Men in Business Firms in Sweden, 1993-2007: The Importance of Education, Cognitive Ability, and Personality
Using Swedish registry data, we study the impact of class origin on becoming part of the business elite between 1993 and 2007 for men aged 35–44 years. The elite is defined as the top 1 per cent of wage earners within large firms. We find a clear working class disadvantage and, with time, a polarization between those of working class origin and others. Decomposition analyses indicate that differences in educational attainment levels cause a large…
The gender gap in the business elite: Stability and change in characteristics of Swedish top wage earners in large private companies, 1993–2007
Using unique Swedish register data on all employees in large private companies, we study trends in the gender composition of top wage employees from 1993 to 2007. The analyses reveal that the likelihood of women holding top wage positions has more than doubled since the early 1990s, but men are still markedly over-represented in this group of employees. We focus on educational choices, considering level and field of study as well as university at…
Does Your Class Give More than a Hint of Your Lifetime Earnings: Assessing Indicators for Lifetime Earnings Over the Life Course for Sweden
From a sociological stratification perspective, we would expect occupationally based measures to be valid proxies for lifetime earnings, but recent research suggests that annual earnings outperform occupational measures. In this article, we examine how class, occupation, education, and annual earnings are associated with lifetime earnings across almost complete working lives, at ages of around 20-65 years for Swedish cohorts born in the 1940s. Ou…
Class Origin Effects on Downward Career Mobility in Sweden 1982-2001
This article sheds light on the impact of class origin on career mobility by focusing on downward mobility from the so-called Service I class, which is the most privileged class of employees within the EGP (Erikson-Goldthorpe-Portocarero) class schema. A substantial proportion of the incumbents within Service I originate from the working class. It could be assumed that these people would experience higher levels of downward career mobility. Using…
How Do Classes Make Use of Their Incomes
Does Class Matter Equally for Men and Women: A Study of the Impact of Class on Wage Growth in Sweden 1999—2003
It has been suggested that class schemas are appropriate for analysing class relations among men but not among women.This article examines wage growth patterns, i.e. a crucial aspect of class relations. There are several reasons why class would be less effective as a predictor of wage growth for women than for men: for example, that factors such as discrimination blur this association for women; and that women are over-represented in occupational…
Labour Market Rewards and the Neo-Classical Soup: An Analysis of the Relation between Social Class and Economic Inequalities in Sweden in the Last Quarter of the 20th Century
Earlier research indicates clear gaps in wages and wage mobility between social classes. However, it has been argued that classes may be in the process of dissolving. Using Swedish cross-sectional and panel data, the following conclusions are drawn. The mismatch between class and economic reward increased in the last quarter of the 20th century, i.e. the data show a growing proportion of people whose wages are similar to those in other classes de…
Nya möjligheter för stratifieringsforskning i Sverige: Internationella yrkesklassificeringar och stratifieringsmått över tid
New opportunities for social stratification research in Sweden: International occupational classifications and stratification measures over timeThe Swedish occupational classifications have in recent years been changed to a version of the international standard ISCO-88(COM), i.e. SSYK 96. As a consequence, a wide variety of internationally well-known stratification measures can be applied to Swedish data sets. In this article some tests of the va…
Later and less? New evidence on occupational maturity for Swedish women and men
A common assumption in the social stratification literature is that the lion’s share of people reaches occupational maturity quite early in working life, i.e., they end up in an occupation/class position and stay there. The conventional view is that career maturity is reached around the age of 35. By using Swedish longitudinal occupational biographies across six birth cohorts from 1925 to 1984, this study challenges this view. Our findings reveal…
Stress resilience in adolescence and subsequent antidepressant and anxiolytic medication in middle aged men: Swedish cohort study
Elite mobility among college graduated men in Sweden: Skills, personality and family ties
Using Swedish registry data, we study the chances of mobility into the Swedish labour market elite for men who graduated in the years 1985−2005. The elite is defined as top earners within mid- and large sized firms and within the public sector organisations (henceforth, we use organisation for both firms and public organisations). Using discrete time event history models, we study the incidence of elite entry in terms of external recruitment and …
The Plausibility of Class Cultural Explanations: An Analysis of Social Homogeneity using Swedish Data from the Late 1990s
Previous findings of large absolute mobility to service I class (the 'upper' part of the 'salariat') can be seen as a sign of the implausibility of class cultures. However, it is argued that these findings might be due to inappropriate divisions of class. Using Swedish data, and following a Weberian definition of class, a social class schema is derived empirically from marriage tendencies. Social homogeneity (immobility and in-marriage) is found …
Work life complexity no longer on the rise: Trends among 1930s–1980s birth cohorts in Sweden
There is a conception that contemporary work lives become ever more complex. Pioneering research has indicated that work lives have indeed become more complex, yet at a modestly increasing pace. This paper uses Swedish registry data across an exceptionally long time period, including cohorts born from 1931 to 1983. The following conclusions are drawn using state-of-the-art methods of measuring sequence complexity. For early-careers, an increasing…
Measuring the Potential Power Elite in the UK and Sweden
This paper proposes a methodology for using survey data to understand the composition of elites, through analysing the pool of potential members. An occupational-based measure of ‘potential power elite’ (PPE) is created and compared with other measures of occupational advantage. It is argued that this measure can be utilised to explore if the processes causing certain social groups to be under-represented in elite positions are around selection o…
How Do Classes Make Use of Their Incomes
The Crucial Aspects of Class: An Empirical Assessment of the Relevance of Class Analysis with Swedish Data Covering the Late Twentieth Century
Class structure and class formation are two crucial aspects of class. The former relates to differences in market positions and the latter concerns social factors such as interaction, mobility and class action. This paper is based on Swedish data covering the period from 1975 to 1995. Analysis reveals a persistent class hierarchy and that there is no trend towards declining class differences regarding market position. The situation is better desc…
Culture consumption in Sweden: The stability of gender differences
The Plausibility of Class Cultural Explanations: An Analysis of Social Homogeneity using Swedish Data from the Late 1990s
Previous findings of large absolute mobility to service I class (the 'upper' part of the 'salariat') can be seen as a sign of the implausibility of class cultures. However, it is argued that these findings might be due to inappropriate divisions of class. Using Swedish data, and following a Weberian definition of class, a social class schema is derived empirically from marriage tendencies. Social homogeneity (immobility and in-marriage) is found …
Vad alla bör ha råd med: En analys av vilken konsumtion som anses vara nödvändig i dagens Sverige
What everyone should be able to afford. An analysis of w hat kinds of consumptionare regarded as necessary in contemporary SwedenSome degree of consensus concerning perceptions of consumption is important to create and refine social policy as well as measures of poverty. Possible reasons for both consensus and certain social cleavages about what is perceived as necessities are discussed. Analysing data from Statistics Sweden’s 1998 Survey of Livi…
Labour Market Rewards and the Neo-Classical Soup: An Analysis of the Relation between Social Class and Economic Inequalities in Sweden in the Last Quarter of the 20th Century
Earlier research indicates clear gaps in wages and wage mobility between social classes. However, it has been argued that classes may be in the process of dissolving. Using Swedish cross-sectional and panel data, the following conclusions are drawn. The mismatch between class and economic reward increased in the last quarter of the 20th century, i.e. the data show a growing proportion of people whose wages are similar to those in other classes de…
Inlägg: Är det dags för en tvärinstitutionell redäktion
The Glass Ceiling - Where is it? Women's and Men's Career Prospects in the Private vs. the Public Sector in Sweden 1979-2000
Previous research suggests that women have more limited career opportunities than men. Using Swedish longitudinal data, covering the period between 1979 and 2000, more light is shed on the association between hierarchical levels and differences between men's and women's career opportunities in terms of occupational transitions. The analyses indicate that women face the greatest hinderance to advancement at lower hierarchical levels and that these…
Nya möjligheter för stratifieringsforskning i Sverige: Internationella yrkesklassificeringar och stratifieringsmått över tid
New opportunities for social stratification research in Sweden: International occupational classifications and stratification measures over timeThe Swedish occupational classifications have in recent years been changed to a version of the international standard ISCO-88(COM), i.e. SSYK 96. As a consequence, a wide variety of internationally well-known stratification measures can be applied to Swedish data sets. In this article some tests of the va…
Class Origin Effects on Downward Career Mobility in Sweden 1982-2001
This article sheds light on the impact of class origin on career mobility by focusing on downward mobility from the so-called Service I class, which is the most privileged class of employees within the EGP (Erikson-Goldthorpe-Portocarero) class schema. A substantial proportion of the incumbents within Service I originate from the working class. It could be assumed that these people would experience higher levels of downward career mobility. Using…
Are women over-represented in dead-end jobs? A Swedish study using empirically derived measures of dead-end jobs
Does Class Matter Equally for Men and Women: A Study of the Impact of Class on Wage Growth in Sweden 1999—2003
It has been suggested that class schemas are appropriate for analysing class relations among men but not among women.This article examines wage growth patterns, i.e. a crucial aspect of class relations. There are several reasons why class would be less effective as a predictor of wage growth for women than for men: for example, that factors such as discrimination blur this association for women; and that women are over-represented in occupational…
Occupational Attainment and Career Progression in Sweden
We analyze occupational attainment and career progression over the life course for Swedish men and women, born in 1925–1974. Careers progress (measured as improvements in occupational prestige) fast during the first 5–10 years in the labour market, and flatten out afterwards (approximately between 30–40 years of age). This is in line with the occupational status maturation hypothesis. Both class origin and educational attainment affect occupation…
Class Origin and Elite Position of Men in Business Firms in Sweden, 1993-2007: The Importance of Education, Cognitive Ability, and Personality
Using Swedish registry data, we study the impact of class origin on becoming part of the business elite between 1993 and 2007 for men aged 35–44 years. The elite is defined as the top 1 per cent of wage earners within large firms. We find a clear working class disadvantage and, with time, a polarization between those of working class origin and others. Decomposition analyses indicate that differences in educational attainment levels cause a large…
Measuring the Potential Power Elite in the UK and Sweden
This paper proposes a methodology for using survey data to understand the composition of elites, through analysing the pool of potential members. An occupational-based measure of ‘potential power elite’ (PPE) is created and compared with other measures of occupational advantage. It is argued that this measure can be utilised to explore if the processes causing certain social groups to be under-represented in elite positions are around selection o…
Using occupation-based social classifications
Occupation-based social classifications are important social indicators, but are easily misunderstood. Using survey data from the UK and Sweden, we summarize the empirical relations between a number of alternative occupation-based social classifications. Results indicate similarity between most measures, though there are often quite considerable differences in the properties of related classifications according to the level of detail at which the…
The gender gap in the business elite: Stability and change in characteristics of Swedish top wage earners in large private companies, 1993–2007
Using unique Swedish register data on all employees in large private companies, we study trends in the gender composition of top wage employees from 1993 to 2007. The analyses reveal that the likelihood of women holding top wage positions has more than doubled since the early 1990s, but men are still markedly over-represented in this group of employees. We focus on educational choices, considering level and field of study as well as university at…
Stress resilience in adolescence and subsequent antidepressant and anxiolytic medication in middle aged men: Swedish cohort study
Elite mobility among college graduated men in Sweden: Skills, personality and family ties
Using Swedish registry data, we study the chances of mobility into the Swedish labour market elite for men who graduated in the years 1985−2005. The elite is defined as top earners within mid- and large sized firms and within the public sector organisations (henceforth, we use organisation for both firms and public organisations). Using discrete time event history models, we study the incidence of elite entry in terms of external recruitment and …
Can class and status really be disentangled
Does Your Class Give More than a Hint of Your Lifetime Earnings: Assessing Indicators for Lifetime Earnings Over the Life Course for Sweden
From a sociological stratification perspective, we would expect occupationally based measures to be valid proxies for lifetime earnings, but recent research suggests that annual earnings outperform occupational measures. In this article, we examine how class, occupation, education, and annual earnings are associated with lifetime earnings across almost complete working lives, at ages of around 20-65 years for Swedish cohorts born in the 1940s. Ou…
Work life complexity no longer on the rise: Trends among 1930s–1980s birth cohorts in Sweden
There is a conception that contemporary work lives become ever more complex. Pioneering research has indicated that work lives have indeed become more complex, yet at a modestly increasing pace. This paper uses Swedish registry data across an exceptionally long time period, including cohorts born from 1931 to 1983. The following conclusions are drawn using state-of-the-art methods of measuring sequence complexity. For early-careers, an increasing…
Later and less? New evidence on occupational maturity for Swedish women and men
A common assumption in the social stratification literature is that the lion’s share of people reaches occupational maturity quite early in working life, i.e., they end up in an occupation/class position and stay there. The conventional view is that career maturity is reached around the age of 35. By using Swedish longitudinal occupational biographies across six birth cohorts from 1925 to 1984, this study challenges this view. Our findings reveal…
Occupational earning potential: A new measure of social hierarchy in Europe and the US
Social stratification is interested in unequal life chances and assumes the existence of a hierarchy of more or less advantageous occupations. Yet occupations are not easily translated into a linear hierarchical measure. Influential scales combine multiple indicators and lack intuitive interpretation. We therefore present a new scale based on occupations’ earnings potential (OEP). OEP measures the median earnings of occupations and expresses them…
Sociology (21 works) · Economics (19 works) · Demographic economics (15 works) · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies (14 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Political science (12 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Social science (11 works) · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality (10 works) · Economic growth (9 works)