About this role
The Research Department of Statistics Norway invites applications for a two-year fixed-term position in economics, funded by the Research Council of Norway through "Match effects and matchmaking in education" (MatchEd, project no. 358940). The position is based in Oslo, Norway, with an anticipated starting date of September 1, 2027. The Research Department conducts economic research using extensive Norwegian administrative data. The department has an established group of researchers working in applied microeconomics, including the economics of education, and close connections with the University of Oslo and the international research community.
About the project MatchEd explores how the assignment of students to schools, programs, and tracks affects academic outcomes, motivation, and equality of opportunity. Beyond estimating whether some schools or programs benefit particular students more than others (match effects), the project aims to identify the mechanisms behind this heterogeneity, and to translate these insights into evidence-based guidance for designing fairer and more effective assignment systems.
The project exploits centralized admission systems (e.g., deferred acceptance with priority-based cutoffs) linked to population-wide registers. The project is led by Edwin Leuven (Statistics Norway and the University of Oslo) and Sturla Løkken (Statistics Norway).