The Nordic Model - Embracing globalization and sharing risks

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1000 EUR 1000 EUR 20 10 20 10 0 0 -10 -10 -20 -20 -30 -30 -40 0-4 10-14 20-24 30-34 40-44 50-54 60-64 70-74 80-84 >90 -40 Figure 4.1 Average net contributions depending on age The figure shows the net contribution to public finances defined as all types of tax payments less transfers and individualized public consumption. The numbers are calculated on the basis of data for 2004. Source: Vaittinen and Vanne (2006). welfare state. The essence of it is that those working finance, via their tax payments, the welfare provisions of the young and the old (and of other groups, such as the sick and unemployed). This can be interpreted as reflecting solidarity of those of working age, who contribute to the young and the old because they care about their living conditions. Alternatively, the social contract is supported by the perception of those of working age that they, if currently in need or in due time as they grow old, will be able to benefit from the same or similar welfare provisions. Expectations and trust are essential; those currently active agree to pay taxes because they trust that future active generations will do the same. The system is based on social cohesion in the sense of a perception that we are all, in one way or another, in the same boat. The social contract has three key elements 1 Extent, coverage and quality of entitlements, 2 level and structure of tax payments, 3 labour force participation, including exit from and entry into the labour market. Demographics: from tail-wind to head-wind · 65
The extent, coverage and quality of the entitlements depend on the ambitions of society for, e.g., education and health care, and with regard to when and how the social safety net should protect persons becoming unable to support themselves. The Nordic welfare model is characterized by the aspiration to offer service provisions that meet the requirements of most people; that is, the public sector is not a residual supplier of last resort for those unable to provide for themselves but rather something used by the majority of the population. All should have the same options for education – depending on ability and motivation – and health care – depending on need. Likewise, the social safety net is supposed to offer a decent living standard, and it is not acceptable that individuals without self-support only attain a living standard very much lower than that of other groups. The ambition is to ensure equal opportunities irrespective of the ability to pay. While difficult to achieve, this egalitarian objective is a cornerstone of the Nordic welfare model. Given the high ambitions with respect to the extent and quality of services and the social safety net, a large fraction of economic resources is in the Nordic countries allocated and distributed via the public sector. And since the welfare package is mainly financed by taxes, the tax burden (the ratio of total tax revenues to GDP) is high (see figure 4.2). This raises issues concerning the effects of taxes on economic decision making, since taxes cause a wedge between the social and private return to activities like education and work. A high rate of labour force participation – reflecting working hours over the year as well as entry by the young and exit by the old from the labour market – is crucial for the Nordic model. The reason is straightforward: most outside the labour market are entitled to some form of transfer income, while only those with a job are contributing to the financing of the welfare state. The financial balance of the social contract is therefore undermined if too few are active in the labour market. An extended tax-financed welfare model necessarily has to rely on high employment. As already noted in chapter 3, the Nordic countries have indeed managed to achieve a high rate of labour force participation. In 2006, the average participation rate for the age group 15–65 was higher in The Nordic principle of universality is ambitious – and costly High tax rates are part of the model High employment rates are one of the preconditions for the viability of the Nordic model 66 · The Nordic Model
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The Nordic Model Embracing globaliz
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ETLA B232 ISBN 978-951-628-468-5 IS
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THE AUTHORS Torben M. Andersen is P
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CONTENTS PREFACE THE AUTHORS 1 INTR
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8.5 The future of public services -
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Globalization is primarily an oppor
Page 15 and 16: ices financed by taxes, which are h
Page 17 and 18: 14, respectively, out of a total of
Page 19 and 20: are the effects of technical change
Page 21 and 22: - and, particularly, their effect o
Page 23 and 24: not contesting economic growth as t
Page 25 and 26: 1.6 AN EFFECTIVE WAGE BARGAINING PR
Page 27 and 28: etter be tried in individual cases
Page 29 and 30: The scheme of the social contract c
Page 31 and 32: is worthy and realistic. But the de
Page 33 and 34: supportive interaction of openness
Page 35 and 36: The financial deregulations in the
Page 37 and 38: horizontal axis). These indices are
Page 39 and 40: does can nowadays be seen, in a bro
Page 41 and 42: employment increases in the public
Page 43 and 44: are not at the top of the league, t
Page 45 and 46: ENDNOTES 1 Wikipedia refers to popu
Page 47 and 48: consider employment and productivit
Page 49 and 50: from the mid-1980s. Finland has gra
Page 51 and 52: % 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 IT expenditure, %
Page 53 and 54: As technological change is to a sig
Page 55 and 56: 3.3 SOCIAL EQUALITY Economic effici
Page 57 and 58: 0.9 0.8 0.7 Net Fin Den 0.9 Composi
Page 59 and 60: ANNEX: GROWTH ACCOUNTING The Nordic
Page 61 and 62: sources of GDP growth in the EU15,
Page 63 and 64: 11 These decompositions have been c
Page 65: 4.1 THE WELFARE STATE AS A SOCIAL C
Page 69 and 70: % % 80 80 60 60 40 20 0 OECD max Fi
Page 71 and 72: % 80 Total Old age % 80 60 60 40 40
Page 73 and 74: tem is seriously affected. Today, t
Page 75 and 76: Historically, however, the share of
Page 77 and 78: More children. Since the problem is
Page 79 and 80: Actually higher growth may make the
Page 81 and 82: dependency ratio driven by the baby
Page 83 and 84: 82 · The Nordic Model
Page 85 and 86: to handle much bigger fields today,
Page 87 and 88: Table 5.1 Projections of public hea
Page 89 and 90: 5.4 AN EASY FIX - BRING SERVICES BA
Page 91 and 92: Box 5.1 Growth and the welfare stat
Page 93 and 94: it implies that the long-run defici
Page 95 and 96: The level of taxation is already hi
Page 97 and 98: One may ask why this problem arises
Page 99 and 100: globalization may contribute to bot
Page 101 and 102: able to pay to seek private solutio
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Page 105 and 106: ily policies that Nordic demographi
Page 107 and 108: absolute and relative terms than hi
Page 109 and 110: in the participation decision of th
Page 111 and 112: Table 6.2 The activity rate, aggreg
Page 113 and 114: Thus, responsible unions should res
Page 115 and 116: als take part in various unemployme
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Box 6.2 What is the Danish “flexi
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ENDNOTES 1 In his history of the ec
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particularly noteworthy in a euro a
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7.2 COORDINATION AND DECENTRALIZATI
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also depends on the business cycle.
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ut not in any dramatic way (cf. fig
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displays higher nominal rigidity th
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model stem from an age in which the
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mostly in the years 1980-2000. For
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Table 8.1 Government expenditure by
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ure. This selection bias alone will
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that everyone gets their worth as m
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8.3 THE CASE FOR GOVERNMENT PROVIDE
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maximizing firms tend to focus exce
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than zero based budgeting) are impe
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sectors, place at or above the medi
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The demands for objectivity limit w
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assessed case by case. The importan
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c. Vouchers Vouchers are issued by
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mechanically in the political debat
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ENDNOTES 1 The private sector inclu
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The biggest hurdle to overcome for
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ment has a higher return when spent
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REFERENCES Adema, W. and Ladaique,
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Jonung, L. and Hagberg, T. (2005):
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Is there a Nordic model? What are t
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