Policymakers in Europe are currently faced with the difficult task of reducing our reliance on Russian oil and gas without worsening the situation for firms and households that are struggling with high energy prices. The two options available are either to substitute fossil fuel imports from Russia with imports from other countries and cut energy tax rates to reduce the impacts on firms and household budgets, or to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels entirely by investing heavily in low-carbon energy production.

We are honoured that H.E. Mr. Oleksiy Chernyshov, Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, who is paying a visit to Stockholm as the President’s of Ukraine Special Envoy, chose to make the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) his first stop in his busy schedule today.

What are the consequences of domestic violence? What are the factors behind domestic violence? How does war affect the prevalence of gender violence in conflict areas and post conflicts? On 11 May 2022, the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) together with the Centre for Economic Analysis (CenEA) and the FREE Network hosted a hybrid conference focused on 'Economic and social context of domestic violence' with a special panel session on ‘Dimensions of gender-based violence in military conflicts’.

Sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine are argued to be the strongest and farthest-reaching imposed on a major power after WWII, more numerous and more comprehensive than all other measures currently in force against all other sanctioned countries. A question often asked, which is hard to answer, is whether sanctions are effective.

Everybody is deeply shaken by the horror of war, but there are some gender differences in the type of harm that individuals face. Acknowledging the specific risk that women face during wartime in order to target interventions is important, especially considering that often the actors that sit at peace negotiation tables are exclusively men. Pamela Campa, Assistant Professor at Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), discusses the risks that women face during a war conflict.

"Carbon Taxes and CO2 Emissions: Sweden as a Case Study" written by Julius Andersson, Assistant Professor at Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), has won the 2022 AEJ: Economic Policy Best Paper Award.

The world is currently experiencing what can be labelled as a global energy crisis, with surging prices for oil, coal, and natural gas. For households in Sweden and abroad, this translates into higher gasoline and diesel prices at the pump as well as increased electricity and heating costs. In this policy brief, Julius Andersson, Assistant Professor at SITE, together with Celina Tippmann, Research Assistant at SITE, put the current gasoline price in Sweden into a historical context and answer two related questions: are Swedish households paying more today for gasoline than ever before? And should policymakers respond by reducing gasoline taxes?

What is the biggest problem with imposing sanctions on autocracies? How are the cost of sanctions shared across the sanctioned party? Jonathan Lehne, Assistant Professor at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), talks about the "Fortress Russia" strategy and how the Russian economy's exposure to sanctions has changed since 2014.

Can oil and gas sanctions and EU’s plans to reduce dependence on Russian energy affect EU transition to renewables? Elena Paltseva, Associate Professor at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), shares her insights and discusses the current European growth strategy.

The invasion of Ukraine has already begun reshaping the world. The bombardment of Ukrainian cities has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and forced millions to flee the country. But the war has also completely upended the global economy. Russia is paying the heaviest economic price, as it grapples with Western-led sanctions on its banks, major industries and individuals associated with President Vladimir Putin. Can Russia's economy survive?