gupea_2077_29098_3

Summary
As a result of rapid economic and industrial growth in the 1950s and 1960s and low
birth-rates in the inter-war period, labour demand exceeded labour supply in parts
of North-western Europe after the Second World War. A wave of migration from
Southern and South-eastern Europe to the more economically developed parts of
Europe followed. Countries like West Germany, Great Britain and Sweden received
thus a vast number of labour immigrants up until the end of the 1960s. Because of
the excess demand for labour most countries in North-western Europe implemented
liberal migration policies as part of a market integration process implemented
to secure stability and economic growth after the war. By the time of the first oilcrises
most countries abandoned the liberal migration policies and adopted more
protectionist rules and regulations motivated by the increased unemployment in the
industrial sector and the consequent decreased demand for labour.
The main purpose of this thesis is to determine how the Swedish Employer Confederation
(SAF) and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) tried to affect
supply and demand on the labour market by controlling the stream of labour immigrants
between 1945 and 1972. Although previous research has identified the
trade unions’ rhetoric and actions regarding labour migration, hardly any attention
has been given to the employers. This thesis comprises thus the first systematic
study of how SAF tried to increase the labour supply by encouraging immigration.
This thesis shows that LO and SAF acted like open cartels on the labour market.
LO tried to restrict immigrants’ access to the Swedish labour market and thereby
avoid competition between their members and free riders, while SAF advocated
the implementation of a liberal migration policy to diminish competition between
the members and free riders. The employers’ and the trade unions’ will to control
supply and demand on the labour market can also be explained by the bargaining
power of each organisation. SAF strengthened their bargaining power when there
were more workers than job opportunities, while LO strengthened their bargaining
power when labour was scarce. In light of the incompatibility between SAF and LO
as to labour immigration and its effect on the labour supply, this thesis questions
whether the so-called Swedish Model was based on consensus or if it was in fact
characterised by conflict.
Labour shortage in Sweden 1945-1972
A considerable number of studies claim that labour was scarce in Sweden from the
end of the Second World War until the early 1970s. However, neither those existing
studies nor the official statistics show in reality whether there was a labour shortage
or not. Although a number of factors indicate that the demand for labour was high
after the war. GDP growth was significant in the 1950s and 1960s, unemployment
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