1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910792347803321

Titolo

Reforming the welfare state [[electronic resource] ] : recovery and beyond in Sweden / / edited by Richard B. Freeman, Birgitta Swedenborg, and Robert Topel

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Chicago ; ; London, : University of Chicago Press, c2010

ISBN

1-282-53838-1

9786612538384

0-226-26191-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (350 p.)

Collana

National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report

Altri autori (Persone)

FreemanRichard B <1943-> (Richard Barry)

SwedenborgBirgitta <1941->

TopelRobert H

Disciplina

330.9485

Soggetti

Manpower policy - Sweden

Labor market - Sweden

Welfare state - Sweden

Sweden Economic policy

Sweden Economic conditions 1945-

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Searching for Optimal Inequality / Incentives -- 2. Policies Affecting Work Patterns and Labor Income for Women -- 3. Wage Determination and Employment in Sweden Since the Early 1990's: Wage Formation in a New Setting -- 4. Labor Supply, Tax Base, and Public Policy in Sweden -- 5. Did Active Labor Market Policies Help Sweden Rebound from the Depression of the Early 1990's? -- 6. How Sweden's Unemployment Became More Like Europe's -- 7. Economic Performance and Market Work Activity in Sweden after the Crisis of the Early 1990's -- 8. Competition, Regulation, and the Role of Local Government Policies in Swedish Markets -- 9. What Have Changes to the Global Markets for Goods and Services Done to the Viability of the Swedish Welfare State? -- Contributors -- Author Index -- Subject Index



Sommario/riassunto

Over the course of the twentieth century, Sweden carried out one of the most ambitious experiments by a capitalist market economy in developing a large and active welfare state. Sweden's generous social programs and the economic equality they fostered became an example for other countries to emulate. Of late, Sweden has also been much discussed as a model of how to deal with financial and economic crisis, due to the country's recovery from a banking crisis in the mid-1990's. At that time economists heatedly debated whether the welfare state caused Sweden's crisis and should be reformed-a debate with clear parallels to current concerns over capitalism. Bringing together leading economists, Reforming the Welfare State examines Sweden's policies in response to the mid-1990's crisis and the implications for the subsequent recovery. Among the issues investigated are the way changes in the labor market, tax and benefit policies, local government policy, industrial structure, and international trade affected Sweden's recovery. The way that Sweden addressed its economic challenges provides valuable insight into the viability of large welfare states, and more broadly, into the way modern economies deal with crisis.