Photo: The Nordic Embassy in Berlin, Alfred Berger / artstor.org
- The Nordic countries have the last 70 years combined social security and capitalistic dynamics in a unique way. This form of organising society is called the Nordic or Scandinavian model.
- Characteristics include strong labour movements, strong business associations, large welfare states and recurring and centrally co-ordinated collective negotiations.
- The Scandinavian countries display small wage gaps, universal welfare arrangements and commitment to full employment by governments.
- The Nordic economies are small, open economies with economic growth similar to other capitalist countries. The Nordic model is thereby adapted to a system of free international trade, inter alia through centralised wage negotiations where margins in exporting sectors determine the wage growth in the economy as a whole.
Learn more
- “Floating high – How the Nordic model combines capitalist dynamics and worker security”, in Olav Molven (ed.) Healthcare, welfare and law. Gyldendal Akademisk, Oslo, 2010. (Kalle Moene)
- “Inequality, Social Insurance, and Redistribution”, The American Political Science Review 95 (4), 2001. (Kalle Moene og Michael Wallerstein)
- "Norwegian welfare system set to be example in Davos", the Foreigner, January 27, 2011 (Newspaper article)
- "Taking the Nordic experience to Davos", Office of the Prime Minister, January 28, 2011