My research focuses on work environment factors and associations with health outcomes and work-related attitudes and behaviors in different contexts, such as Swedish healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, academia, and among the self-employed.
The Psychology of Work
Ph.D., Psychology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, 2024
I love reading and it is one of my favorite ways to relax, but since having children my “to be read” list keeps getting longer instead of shorter.
Appelbom, S., Finnes, A., Wicksell, R. K., & Bujacz, A. (2025). Symptoms of Psychological Stress and Sickness Absence Among Healthcare Workers During a Persistent Crisis. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 66(6), 871-881. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.13127
Appelbom, S., Finnes, A., Wicksell, R. K., & Bujacz, A. (2024). When Crisis Hits, Send in the Psychologists? A Latent Transition Analysis of Help Seeking Behavior Among Swedish Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. 9(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.16993/sjwop.224
Appelbom, S., Nordström, A., Finnes, A., Wicksell, R. K., & Bujacz, A. (2024). Healthcare worker burnout during a persistent crisis: A case-control study. Occupational Medicine. 74(4), 297-303.
https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqae032
I study how the built environment molds relations of power. This happens in many different ways: in how the space itself is configured—for example, with walls that separate one group from another—as well as in how the space is monitored or how resources or people are distributed within the space. My current project uses the specific case of roads to look at the relationship between built space and power.
Nationalism and Populism: An International Perspective
Comparative Public Policy: The Swedish Model in the 21st Century
The Social Spaces of Injustice
Migration Policy and Politics
Comparative Health Systems
Ph.D., Political Science, University of Maryland, 2004
B.A., Political Science, University of Hawaii, 1997
I enjoy hiking and camping, and generally spending time in the great outdoors. And since I feel more at home in water than on land, I also try to spend as much time as I can in water—primarily swimming, but also kayaking, fishing, and doing other watersports. I once got second place in a completely rigged sports/trivia/beauty pageant competition for a variety show on British television.
My research focuses on sustainable food systems transformation with a concentration on how actors in the agri-food system evaluate and value nascent, technology-based innovations through different frames, business models and collaborations.
The Economics of Food
PhD, Business Administration, Stockholm School of Economics, 2023
I began studying classical piano when I was 6 years old. While few things bring me more joy than sitting at a piano, these days it’s typically interrupted by my two sons. Thanks to them, my weekends are typically spent learning new hobbies, including baseball and football (soccer).
Bustamante, M.J. & Martin, M. (2025) The role of business models in scaling sustainable agri-food innovations. Nordic-Baltic Food Systems Conference & Policy Forum, Helsinki, Finland, May 2025 (presenter)
Milestad, R., de Jong, A., Bustamante, M.J., Molin, E., Martin, M., & Malone Friedman, C. (2024). Sustainability assessments of commercial urban agriculture–a scoping review. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8, 1336395. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1336395
Bustamante, M.J. (2023). Digital platforms as common goods or economic goods? Constructing the worth of a nascent agricultural data platform. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 192, 122549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122549
My research is devoted to various topics, but the main orientations are literature, history of education, language teaching, and the representation of teachers and teaching in popular culture.
Swedish I, II, and Advanced
Swedish Crime Fiction
Ph.D., Language Education, Stockholm University, 2016
I enjoy running and biking. For many years, I ran international marathons in cities like Berlin, Barcelona, and Hamburg. I’m also a trained sommelier and enjoy wine and wine-tasting. Besides that, I have a great passion for literature and soccer.
In 2023 I published my most recent book, “Lärarliv i litteraturen,” which analyses the role of teacher in Swedish contemporary fiction. I have published many research and educational materials, for example in collaboration with Utbildningsradion (The Swedish Broadcasting Company). I have also published articles in the major newspapers in Sweden including Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, and Göteborgs Posten
I joined the Swedish Program in 2025 after many years of university teaching, research in psychology, and clinical work. My academic interests include emotion psychology, attachment theory, and psychotherapy research.
The Psychology of Emotion and Relationships
Ph.D., Psychology, Stockholm University
Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Psychotherapist
Outside of work, I enjoy time with family and friends, yoga and meditation, audiobooks, and cheering on my son’s soccer team.
Twentieth century architecture has been my main research interest ever since I wrote my thesis and it still is. I have a special interest in the new building types of this period.
History of Modern Scandinavian Art and Architecture
Ph.D., Art History, Uppsala University, 2003
I have a great passion for music resulting in an ever-expanding record collection and a longing to revisit the jazz clubs of Downtown Manhattan.
My research generally concerns the two-way interaction between the global economy and the earth system, with a focus on the economy. The two bigger projects I am currently working on are about the political feasibility of climate policy and incorporating multiple “Planetary Boundaries” in global economic models.
Environmental Economics
PhD, Economics, Stockholm University, 2012
Many years before I started teaching in the Swedish Program, I came into contact with it when my family signed up as a contact family to one of the students. This gave us a new family member: our American daughter Jess. We have kept in touch over the years and get together to celebrate family occasions or just to hang out.
Gars, Johan, Daniel Spiro, and Henrik Wachtmeister, 2022. The effect of European fuel-tax cuts on the oil income of Russia. Nature Energy, 7(10): 1-9
Hart, Rob, and Johan Gars, 2022. The black paradox. European Economic Review, 148, p.104211.
Engström, Gustav, Johan Gars, Chandra Krishnamurthy, Daniel Spiro, Raphael Calel, Therese Lindahl, and Badri Narayanan, 2020. “Carbon pricing and planetary boundaries.” Nature Communications 11, no. 1: 1-11.
Gars, Johan, and Conny Olovsson, 2019. “Fuel for economic growth?”, Journal of Economic Theory 184: 104941.
Swedish Pop Music and Contemporary Culture
My earlier research focused on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Later work has focused entrepreneurship, involving how venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and incumbent firms interact in the innovation market. This research has tried to answer questions such as: Why do small firms do more breakthrough inventions than established firms? Why do small entrepreneurs with high-quality inventions sell their inventions to incumbents rather than enter the market?
The Economics of European Integration
Ph.D., Economics, Stockholm University, 1998
I play badminton and innebandy (floorball). I have played guitar for over 40 years and can do most styles: blues, funk, rock – even some jazz! And, I love teaching my course: it gives me an excuse to go on Youtube to watch Brexitiers and Remainers clash in the British Parliament under the always so colorful speaker John Bercow (for a sample: youtube.com/watch?v=Edt-V4rvIYs).
“Has the Swedish Business Sector Become More Entrepreneurial than the U.S. Business Sector?” (with Fredrik Heyman, Lars Persson and Fredrik Andersson), Research Policy, forthcoming.
“Stock Market Impact of Cross-Border Acquisitions in Emerging Markets” (with Lars Persson). North American Journal of Economics and Finance, forthcoming.
“Employment Protection and FDI Revisited: New Evidence from Micro Data” (with Per Skedinger and Jing-Lin Duanmu). World Economy, forthcoming.
”A Non-Technical Introduction to Economic aspects of International Investment Agreements” (with Henrik Horn). American Review of International Arbitration, forthcoming.
”The Turnaround of the Swedish Economy: Lessons from Large Business Sector reforms” (with Fredrik Heyman and Lars Persson). World Bank Research Observer, forthcoming.
”Foreign Direct Investment, Source Country Heterogeneity and Management Practices” (with Rickard Hammarberg and Fredrik Heyman). Economica. Vol. 86, No. 342, April 2019.
”Threatening to Buy: Private Equity Buyouts and Antitrust Policy” (with Lars Persson and Joacim Tåg). Economics Letters 164 (March): 31–34, 2018.
”Does the Debt Tax Shield Distort Ownership Efficiency?” (with Lars Persson and Joacim Tåg). International Review of Economics and Finance, 54(Mars), 299–310, 2018.
”Who Creates Jobs and Who Creates Productivity? Small versus Large versus Young versus Old” (with Fredrik Heyman and Lars Persson). Economics Letters, 164 (March), 50–57, 2018.
My main research interests include analyzing all types of data using Statistics, Econometrics, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning. I lead several large research projects, including AI for Sustainability and Forecasting Large Systems of Economic and Financial Time Series.
Data Analytics
Linear Algebra
Ph.D., Econometrics, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden, 2004
I’m a passionate cross-country skier and I have completed the Vasa race (90km; Vasa after the Swedish king Gustav Vasa) several times.
Invited speaker to the conference CFE-CMStatistics in Berlin (Germany) 2023
“ESG Ratings and Their Challenges – Unraveling Ambiguity and Proposing Solutions for Consistency.” MGMT of Innovation and Technology, 2023
“Wind and Electricity Prices in Sweden – a Statistical Analysis.” Energiforsk, 2023
“The Future of Data: How Nordic Companies Scale and Transform with Data and AI.” Book. Co-authered with Capgemini, 2023
Article in Dagens Industri: “Betydande konkurrensfördelar för Data Masters i framtiden,” 2023
