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ABSTRACT The economic policies of Swedish Social Democrats were not the product of one centralized authority but, rather, a series of initiatives influenced by many political actors and inspired by egalitarian preferences. We focus on... more
ABSTRACT The economic policies of Swedish Social Democrats were not the product of one centralized authority but, rather, a series of initiatives influenced by many political actors and inspired by egalitarian preferences. We focus on three policy areas. First, the welfare state is a central achievement of Social Democracy. Although its expansion is over, it has cemented Social Democracy's position in power and is still popular among the electorate. Second, the labour-market model is in crisis. The centralized Rehn/Meidner model is not working, coordination of wage bargaining has turned out to be difficult, and the trade unions' radical politics of the 1970s alienated Swedish employers from social concertation. Finally, macroeconomic management has had to struggle with inflationary pressures, and the overheating of the late 1980s and the subsequent deflationary shock led to a sharp increase in unemployment in the 1990s. Many of these problems are related to Social Democracy's internal strains. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.
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ABSTRACT Bibliogr. na konci kapitol
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Kirjallisuusarvostel
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... ”Lyhyttä historiaa” tuskin olisi olemassa ilman lamaa, ja Suomen lama oli ainutkertaisen syvä kovin supisuomalaisista syistä. Yhtä luontevaa on mielestäni myös se, että juuri Juha Siltalan ikäpolvesta nousee tämän prosessin kuvaaja. ...
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Luonnehdin tässä puheenvuorossani suomalaisen poliittisen keskustelun dilemmaa, jota ei mieles-täni ole tyydyttävällä tavalla ratkaistu ja joka aut-taa ymmärtämään hyvinvointivaltion rahoituksen ongelmia. Se koskettaa mielestäni myös... more
Luonnehdin tässä puheenvuorossani suomalaisen poliittisen keskustelun dilemmaa, jota ei mieles-täni ole tyydyttävällä tavalla ratkaistu ja joka aut-taa ymmärtämään hyvinvointivaltion rahoituksen ongelmia. Se koskettaa mielestäni myös filofista arvokeskustelua yksilön ja yhteiskunnan välisistä velvoitteista. Julkisesti rahoitettu hyvinvointivaltiomme-sosiaaliturva ja kattavat julkiset palvelut-naut-tii suurta poliittista suosiota äänestäjien parissa. Sen instituutiot on kuitenkin luotu aikakautena, jolloin luomisen kustannukset eivät olleet niin ilmeisiä ja välittömiä kuin mitä ne ovat nyt. Kun 1960-luvulta alkaen säädettiin lakeja terveys-keskuksista, päiväkodeista ja vanhushoivasta, uudistusten rahoittaminen näytti helpolta kos-ka aktiiviväestön määrä kasvoi ja huoltosuhde oli poikkeuksellisen edullinen. Karkeana nyrkki-sääntönähän voi pitää, että julkistalouden resurs-sipohja seuraa aktiiviväestön määrää ja resussien käyttötarve taas koko väestön määrää ja erityisesti ikääntyneen ...
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Kirjallisuusarvostel
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ABSTRACT Bibliogr. na konci kapitol
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Kirjallisuusarvostel
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Is social policy a necessary ingredient of economic growth and development or is it possibly a dysfunctional by-product? This is a large question that does not permit a definitive answer. Yet there are many strands of literature in... more
Is social policy a necessary ingredient of economic growth and development or is it possibly a dysfunctional by-product? This is a large question that does not permit a definitive answer. Yet there are many strands of literature in economics and other social sciences that offer an approach to this topic.
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Wage bargaining institutions and the institutional framework of the employer—labour relationship have been a classical issue of politics and political theory, and they have preserved their position on the political and economic agenda of... more
Wage bargaining institutions and the institutional framework of the employer—labour relationship have been a classical issue of politics and political theory, and they have preserved their position on the political and economic agenda of modern capitalism. In crude terms, many United States (US) and European commentators distinguish between a European corporatist model in which the terms of employment are mostly regulated by collective agreements, and an Anglo-Saxon—US model where labour contracts are concluded individually and in a decentralized, market-driven fashion. Despite its crudeness, this dichotomy contains an important element of truth, as is shown by studies of stylized facts of the labour market (Holmlund and Zetterberg 1991; Teulings and Hartog 1998). The opposition between these two models is also political, and correlates, at least imperfectly, with the classical political divide between Left and Right.
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Luonnehdin tassa puheenvuorossani suomalaisen poliittisen keskustelun dilemmaa, jota ei mielestani ole tyydyttavalla tavalla ratkaistu ja joka auttaa ymmartamaan hyvinvointivaltion rahoituksen ongelmia. Se koskettaa mielestani myos... more
Luonnehdin tassa puheenvuorossani suomalaisen poliittisen keskustelun dilemmaa, jota ei mielestani ole tyydyttavalla tavalla ratkaistu ja joka auttaa ymmartamaan hyvinvointivaltion rahoituksen ongelmia. Se koskettaa mielestani myos filofista arvokeskustelua yksilon ja yhteiskunnan valisista velvoitteista.
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Aineisto on Opiskelijakirjaston digitoimaa ja Opiskelijakirjasto vastaa aineiston käyttöluvista
Finland har efter 2007 haft en svag ekonomisk utveckling, och den samlade produktionen och sysselsättningen ligger fortfarande under 2008-nivån. Finland har påverkats av den globala lågkonjunkturen, men ekonomins svaghet beror också... more
Finland har efter 2007 haft en svag ekonomisk utveckling, och den samlade produktionen och sysselsättningen ligger fortfarande under 2008-nivån. Finland har påverkats av den globala lågkonjunkturen, men ekonomins svaghet beror också starkt på inhemska faktorer. Konkurrenskraften har försämrats tydligt efter 2007. Lönebildningen har inte anpassats till den sjunkande produktiviteten. Den försämrade konkurrenskraften för exportindustrin har förstärkt effekten av den internationella krisen, så att både produktion och sysselsättning i den internationellt konkurrensutsatta sektorn har sjunkit kraftigt. Den höga kostnadsnivån i förhållande till euroområdet kommer att dämpa den ekonomiska utvecklingen under detta och nästa årtionde. Läget förvärras av att arbetsmarknadens parter inte verkar vara överens om en lämplig lönesättningsmodell som skulle säkerställa en bättre konkurrenskraft och skapa positiva förväntningar bland investerare. De långfristiga utsikterna för landets offentliga finan...
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ABSTRACT The chapter presents a historical and economic analysis of Nordic wage formation, with a special focus on how collective agreements really work. A stereotypical interpretation of the evolution of Nordic wage bargaining systems is... more
ABSTRACT The chapter presents a historical and economic analysis of Nordic wage formation, with a special focus on how collective agreements really work. A stereotypical interpretation of the evolution of Nordic wage bargaining systems is that a centralised setting of wages has gradually been substituted with more decentralised pay bargaining. This overlooks the fact that central organisations could never really control wage levels, even in the golden age of centralised bargaining. Instead, central pay bargains defined minimum wage changes that ensured that local conflicts would be ruled out. Moreover, the central stipulations could often be overruled or adjusted at the local level. Following insights of Teulings and Hartog, we argue that the main function of Nordic collective agreements has always been to rule out local conflicts that would otherwise be initiated to seek local rents. Thus, collective agreements combine macroeconomic flexibility with adequate investment incentives at the local level. In this crucial sense, Nordic collective agreements are a completely stable institution. The most important transformation that has taken place is that formal peak bargaining on mean pay increases has been substituted with pattern bargaining where the manufacturing industry acts as a wage leader. Economic theory suggests that this almost amounts to centralised pay setting.
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Pohjoismainen hyvinvointivaltiomalli elaa huomattavaa poliittista korkeasuhdannetta. Sen nimeen vannovat niin pohjoismaiset aanestajakunnat kuin myos suuri osa eurooppalaisista ja taloustieteilijoista (ks. esim. Svallfors 1989, 2012).... more
Pohjoismainen hyvinvointivaltiomalli elaa huomattavaa poliittista korkeasuhdannetta. Sen nimeen vannovat niin pohjoismaiset aanestajakunnat kuin myos suuri osa eurooppalaisista ja taloustieteilijoista (ks. esim. Svallfors 1989, 2012). Atlanttista talousliberalismia edustava The Economist omisti vuonna 2013 pohjoismaiselle mallille kokonaisen erikoisliitteen, joka ihasteli pohjoismaisen mallin markkinaehtoisuutta ja elinvoimaisuutta. Eurooppalaista talouspoliittista oikeaoppisuutta edustava Financial Times suhtautuu niin ikaan pohjoismaiseen hyvinvointivaltioon paakirjoituksissaan nykyaan myonteisesti. Ilmio on historiallisesti uusi. Kylman sodan aikana vastakkain olivat kommunismi ja kapitalismi, eika poliittisessa keskustelussa ollut paljoakaan tilaa nyansseille. Ruotsi on edustanut anglosaksisessa keskustelussa pohjoismaisen sosialismin arkkitapausta, ja Ruotsia pidettiinkin yleisesti puolimatkan asemana sosialismin ja markkinatalouden valilla. Kylman sodan polyn laskeuduttua asen...
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The chapter presents a timeline and an analysis of economic and social policy in Finland. Finland is an example of an étatiste late industrialiser, in which the post-war period up to the mid-1980s was a phase of catching up and energetic... more
The chapter presents a timeline and an analysis of economic and social policy in Finland. Finland is an example of an étatiste late industrialiser, in which the post-war period up to the mid-1980s was a phase of catching up and energetic mobilisation of resources. The policy regime relied on vigorous State intervention comparable to that of the Asian tiger regimes, in Finland's case motivated also by the stringent geopolitical constraints of Cold War. Public saving contributed to a high rate of capital accumulation, credit was rationed to favour manufacturing investment and corporatist incomes policy was used to sustain the profitability of key export industries. Keynesian demand management was largely neglected, and the high growth rate was associated with large fluctuations and devaluations cycles. The credit and financial market liberalisation of the 1980s resulted in overheating, a deep recession and a failure of the attempted fixed exchange rate anchor. In the 1990s, income...
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This paper suggests an analysis of monetary policy reactions in a typical Finnish business cycle during the regime of credit rationing. We start by presenting a macroeconomic model which incorporates the institutional characteristics of... more
This paper suggests an analysis of monetary policy reactions in a typical Finnish business cycle during the regime of credit rationing. We start by presenting a macroeconomic model which incorporates the institutional characteristics of repressed financial markets and which can generate cyclical behaviour of the main variables that corresponds to stylised facts. The model is then used to motivate the estimation ofan empirical reaction function of monetary policy. We conclude by discussing the strategic policy choices in the light of the empirical results.
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We study the determinants of the gender wage differential by using a data set on Finnish blue-collar metalworkers. The assignment of men and women into jobs of different complexity is a key factor that widens the final wage differential.... more
We study the determinants of the gender wage differential by using a data set on Finnish blue-collar metalworkers. The assignment of men and women into jobs of different complexity is a key factor that widens the final wage differential. Using the theory of optimal job assignment, we propose a model of individual productivity, ability and job complexity and formulate a hypothesis of asymmetric assignment according to which men and women of equal ability are allocated to different job levels. Using econometric panel data techniques, we find support for this hypothesis. The results are consistent with the Lazear-Rosen model of job ladders but can alternatively be interpreted as evidence for gender discrimination in job assignment.
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This paper, using panel data on Finnish metalworkers for the years 1990–2000, explores gender differences in the allocation of workers across jobs of different complexity. The data provide measures for the complexity of the workers'... more
This paper, using panel data on Finnish metalworkers for the years 1990–2000, explores gender differences in the allocation of workers across jobs of different complexity. The data provide measures for the complexity of the workers' tasks and for the individual productivity of each worker. The results indicate that women were less likely to be promoted than men who started their careers in similar tasks. A productivity comparison shows that there was no gender-related productivity differential at the time of the initial assignment, but that women became, on average, more productive than men afterward, in the subsets both of promoted workers and of non-promoted workers. The most plausible interpretation of these results, the authors argue, is that women faced a higher promotion threshold than men. Consistent with this interpretation, they find that the quit rate for young female workers was higher than that for young men.
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Many European countries are currently facing serious challenges related to weak public finances and political populism. This article suggests that the ageing phenomenon has been a major contributory factor to both of these problems. The... more
Many European countries are currently facing serious challenges related to weak public finances and political populism. This article suggests that the ageing phenomenon has been a major contributory factor to both of these problems. The European welfare states were created in a period of favourable demography, and it has now become politically much more difficult to keep them fiscally sustainable because of the ageing population and the associated deterioration of the dependency ratio. The rational policy response to ageing is to increase the labour supply by trimming unemployment benefits, increasing retirement ages and encouraging employment-based immigration. It is precisely such policies, however, that have eroded the support for traditional political parties and created a fertile ground for nativist populism. Thus, the European welfare arrangements may turn out to be politically unsustainable, even if it were theoretically possible to ‘rescue’ them with stringent and fiscally c...
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This paper reviews Finnish economic history during the 'long' twentieth century with a special emphasis on policies for equity and growth. We argue that Finland developed from a poor, vulnerable, and conflict-prone country to a... more
This paper reviews Finnish economic history during the 'long' twentieth century with a special emphasis on policies for equity and growth. We argue that Finland developed from a poor, vulnerable, and conflict-prone country to a modern economy in part through policies ...
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This paper reviews Finnish economic history during the “long” 20th century with a special emphasis on policies for equity and growth. We argue that Finland developed from a poor, vulnerable and conflict-prone country to a modern economy... more
This paper reviews Finnish economic history during the “long” 20th century with a special emphasis on policies for equity and growth. We argue that Finland developed from a poor, vulnerable and conflict-prone country to a modern economy in part through policies geared at both growth and equity, such as land reform and compulsory schooling. The state participated in economic activity both indirectly and directly in the post-war period, implementing many social policy reforms that facilitated the functioning of the labour market and led to greater equity. Centralised collective bargaining was just one of the many means through which central government intervened in the economy. Both the long-run growth record and the equality of different kinds of economic outcomes are fairly positive. This suggests that facilitating economic growth through such policies that further more equitable outcomes may at least in the case of Finland have met with some success. JEL Codes: J50, N33, N34, O52
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The Nordic countries are often bundled together, as representatives of a ‘model’ which combines high living standards and an open market economy with social insurance and ambitious public services. Yet, the economic and political... more
The Nordic countries are often bundled together, as representatives of a ‘model’ which combines high living standards and an open market economy with social insurance and ambitious public services. Yet, the economic and political development of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden towards this model has taken quite different roads. Sweden’s economic development from the late nineteenth century onwards can be seen as a rather spontaneous industrial breakthrough, whereas the state has in both Norway and Finland assumed a more active and interventionist role in mobilizing resources and managing natural endowments. However, the four countries are quite similar in their acceptance of the market economy, technical progress and economic openness, coupled with a pursuit of equality and a state that has alleviated resistance to change by signalling a will to share the gains and losses due to structural change.
