Nordic model

The Nordic model refers to the economic and social models of the Nordic countries (Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway). This particular adaptation of the mixed market economy is characterized by more generous welfare states (relative to other developed countries), which are aimed specifically at enhancing individual autonomy through providing public sector employment opportunities (especially to women), ensuring the universal provision of basic human rights and stabilizing the economy. It is distinguished from other welfare states with similar goals by its emphasis on maximizing labor force participation, promoting gender equality, egalitarian and extensive benefit levels, large magnitude of redistribution, and liberal use of expansionary fiscal policy.

On the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, Denmark's rating is 11th highest of 162 countries (4th in Europe), Finland's 16th, and Sweden's 27th.

Overview

Economic publications, such as the "The Nordic Model - Embracing globalization and sharing risks", characterize the system as follows:

• Strong property rights, contract enforcement, and overall ease of doing business.
• Little barriers to free trade.
• Little product market regulation. Nordic countries rank very high in product market freedom according to OECD rankings.
• Little financial market regulation. Denmark and Finland have the lowest regulation burden in EU-15 according to OECD rankings.
• All Nordics have been pioneers in privatization alongside competitive public services. For instance, Sweden successfully privatized education with education vouchers in 1992.
• Pension systems are privatized. Systems have higher pension funding rates than in most European countries. They still have deficits, however.
• Sweden has decentralized wage coordination, while Finland is ranked the least flexible. Like in other European countries, the powerful labor unions tend to block reform attempts. Reforms and favorable economic development seem to have reduced unemployment, which has traditionally been higher.
• Denmark's Social Democrats managed to push reforms in 1994 and 1996. Denmark's flexible market differs radically from other Nordics (see Flexicurity). According to World Bank data, Denmark has almost no labor market regulation, ranking the first European country in labor freedom.
• Sweden at 56.6% of GDP, Denmark at 51.7%, and Finland at 48.6% reflects very high public spending, compared to 46.9% in Germany, 39.3% in Canada, and 33.5% in Ireland.
• A key reason for public spending is the very large number of public employees. They often have jobs-for-life and make up around a third of the workforce (more than 38% in Denmark). The public sector's low productivity growth has been compensated by Europe's pioneering privatization and outsourcing programs. Public spending in social transfers such as unemployment benefits and early-retired programs is high. In 2001, the wage-based unemployment benefits were around 90% of wage in Denmark and 80% in Sweden, compared to 75% in Holland and 60% in Germany. Unemployed were also able to receive benefits several years before reductions, compared to quick benefit reduction in other countries. Public spending in areas such as education or health is not far from the OECD median.
• Overall tax burden are among the world's highest; 51.1% of GDP in Sweden, and 43.3% in Finland, compared to 34.7% in Germany, 33.5% in Canada, and 30.5% in Ireland. Median employee's tax wedges is between 57%-65%. Value-added tax rates are over 20% and corporate tax rates around the OECD median at around 26%. Property taxes are low or non-existent. The tax burden is particularly heavy on service sectors. Karlson, Johansson & Johnsson estimates that the percentage of the buyer’s income entering the service vendor’s wallet (inverted tax wedge) is around 15% in Nordic countries, compared to 10% in Belgium, 15% in Germany, 25% in France, 30% in Ireland and 50% in the United States. Some taxation is avoided by self-service and in the black market.

Labor market

In the Nordic countries, social regulations do not come from the law, like in southern Europe, but are defined in collective agreement. Thus, for example, minimum wages do not exist in Norway, Sweden, Finland or Denmark; each branch determines its own rules. The high unionization rate (more of 85%) is partly coming from a historic tradition following violent conflicts in the 30s, partly from the importance of Nordic Trade Unions in the political life of the countries, and also by the services provided (unemployment insurance, support for the negotiation of individual salaries, bank and insurance services, holidays, etc.). The importance and influence of the Trade Unions is very high in the Nordic countries.

Education and research

The Nordic countries are the highest spenders in Europe, both through the government training schemes and private sector, for education, training and research:

• According to the OECD, Denmark spends each year more than 7% of its GDP on education, Sweden 6,5% and Finland 6%, as opposed to 5,5% in United Kingdom.
• More than 80% of the Swedes are following a training each year, which is twice the European average
• Sweden and Finland spend each year more than 4% of their GDP on research, Denmark 2,6% and the UK less than 2%. The Nordic countries, including Norway and Iceland, protected in 2002 more patents that France or United Kingdom, with less than 25 millions of inhabitants.

Public sector

Sweden and Denmark were in 2004 the countries of the European union where the expenses of the public administrations were the highest, with respectively 57,2 and 56,3%, Finland a little on this side with 50,7%. The Nordic countries are quite near France (53,8%) and very distant from the British model, where taxes and public expenditure in general are much lower, but where people are generally expected to manage more of their own affairs for themselves.

The Nordic countries are spending a large amount on social protection, as much as France and the UK: between 26,4% and 32,5% of the GDP for 30,6% in France and 27,6% in United Kingdom in 2004. The social benefits are high, with a high level social net: the welfare system payments are higher than anywhere else in Europe, including Germany, Italy, Spain or France.

Almost all residents have access to a very comprehensive health system and social protection. Some Nordic economists believe that high social contributions put a positive weight on national production, when VAT is paid also on imported products.

2004 health cost in Finland was 7.5% of GDP, 15.3% in the US, 10.5% in France and 8.1% in the UK. Management costs of social programs were, in 2005 according to Eurostat, 4% in France and 2.9% to Denmark.

The crisis of the Nordic model in Sweden and Finland at the end of the 1980s and in the beginning of the 1990s pushed them to search for ways of making their welfare system more efficient. This was partly in an effort to install in the citizens’ minds a clear link between the taxes and the services they received, but also because the old systems were too costly to maintain. This decentralization has been in some countries quite extreme: in Finland, the whole sanitary and social system is under the responsibility of municipalities, which are sometimes quite small.

Denmark recently reviewed the number of municipalities, dividing their number by 3 from 300 to 99, partly in order to oblige them to provide services to at least 30 000 inhabitants, and also to try and improve local government efficiency. Finland, Sweden, Norway are going in the same direction, but slowly.

Sweden invented a labor market activation policy in the 1950s, when it decided to oblige unemployed people either to actively look for a job in support groups, or to train with a specific objective, or to participate as a trainee in the private or public sector. These activation schemes cost a lot: in 2003, Denmark dedicated 1.529% of its GDP to active employment measures, Sweden 1.042% and Finland 0.748%, the EU average being below 0.7%.

Other features

Denmark is adopting heavy use of wind energy, mainly through its national champion in this field, Vestas. This is currently meeting 20% of the country's energy requirements.

Sweden is attempting to adopt a policy of being energy self-dependent by 2020 with an Oil phase-out in Sweden.

Nordic countries generally have very high rates of gender equality by most measurements.

Performance

We could sum up our description of the Nordic models: the productive private sector needs to be efficient and generate exports due to the small indigenous populations. the workforce is highly unionised and therefore the unions have a major say in both the running of business and that of government. The Governments ultimately have the biggest say in the management and development of the economy. Salaries (and taxes) are high, and there is a comprehensive social security system open to all.

There has been an overall strong economic recovery since the extreme economic malaise in the Nordic countries, especially Denmark and Sweden, suffered up to the 1990s when their currencies came under attack when members of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.

In recent years the following official figures have been reported:

• Between 1984 and 2002, Sweden's GDP growth was 36% compared to 111% in Ireland.
• High growth in the last years, (10,05 percent for the EU to 15 on 2000-2004, 15% for Finland 12,3% for Sweden, 4,4% for Sweden and 5,5% for Finland in 2006.
• Low unemployment, the lowest of the European union for Denmark (3,4% in March 2007…) after having known high levels 10 years ago (9,1% in Sweden, 9,6% to Denmark and 16,3% in Finland for 1993
• Po Official Official poverty risk rate are 9% in Sweden, 10% in Denmark, 11% in Finland, 13%in France and 19% in United Kingdom.
• According to libertarian think tank Timbo, when measured by wealth, the poor have less wealth than in the United States. For instance, they live in smaller apartments, have lower home ownership, and have less household equipment. These findings are however contradicted by a peer-reviewed study in the American Economic Review by American economist Lane Kenworthy who found that the percentage of household living on less than 40% of U.S. median household income (adjusted for household size) was lowest in the Nordic countries, and much lower than in the U.S.
• Governments have committed to fiscal responsibility. In 2004, Sweden, Finland and Denmark presented an excess of the public accounts (respectively of 1,2%, 1,9% and 2,6% of the GDP), whereas France presented a deficit of 3,7% and United Kingdom a deficit of 3,1%.

• Flight of Capital, as is often seen in any country where taxes are significantly higher than their neighbors, incentive to move ones financial dealings outside of the country to avoid taxation can become a problem. As a result, some Danes and Swedes have emigrated or based their financial affairs outside of their home countries. Examples of this include Ingvar Kamprad, the Swede who founded furniture retail chain IKEA, who has lived in Switzerland for the past 30 years, while the Ikea business operates through a Netherlands-based holding company. Janus Friis, the co-founder of Skype, is now based in the UK and another very recent Danish example is the boxer Mikkel Kessler, who rebased to Monaco in 2007. Stephen Kinnock, son of former UK Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, and the husband of party leader Helle Thorning Schmidt of the Social Democrats, also doesn't base himself in Denmark.

• The extensive social services network can potentially lead to situations where a statistically significant amount of people live exclusively on unemployment benefits, without seeking employment. The magnitude of this problem is not certain, but it is worth noting that the countries following the Nordic model have very low unemployment.

• As globalisation becomes a more accepted part of business and personal life, many companies are becoming more aware of international opportunities to cut costs, as with the high taxes and high cost of living, they are finding they can recruit employees cheaper abroad. Thus outsourcing and offshoring are becoming very common, especially in sectors such as IT and manufacturing, and many building construction companies are importing labour from the new Eastern European members of the European Union, rather than recruit internally and pay Nordic salary levels.

External links

• The Nordic Model - Analysis of the Nordic Model
• THE MYTH OF THE SCANDINAVIAN MODEL - An economic Critique of the Scandinavian Social Model An analysis based on facts and figures