Swedish and Nordic Capitalism. Sjögren (2008), Welfare capitalism: the Swedish economy, in Creating Nordic Capitalism, PalgraveMacmillan.

Transcription

1 Swedish and Nordic Capitalism Sjögren (2008), Welfare capitalism: the Swedish economy, in Creating Nordic Capitalism, PalgraveMacmillan.

2 Varieties of Capitalism Liberal market economies Coordinated market economies Planned economies How does that apply to the Nordic countries? Difference between market economy and capitalism? Markets are always embedded in institutions (rules of the game). What does that mean? Politics, culture and history matter

3 Waves of globalization First global economy Disintegration New global Beginning of a economy new global economy

4 The Hockey Stick Phenomena

5 Does capitalism and business matter? Between 1820 and 1990 the advanced capitalist countries increased their production by a factor of 75. These advanced countries, with less than 15% of the world's population, produced half the world's GDP in the 1990s.

6 Questions to reflect on Why and how have some entrepreneurs, companies and countries been more successful than others in creating economic growth? How has capitalism and entrepreneurial leadership evolved over time? When and why did this strong economic growth began? Is it reversible? Is it sustainable? Does it make everyone happy?

7 Todays message to you The evolution of Swedish welfare economy and the Swedish Model. Reflections on a Nordic Model? Country-specific characteristics and the role of business in the transformation of the economy.

8 Driving forces - periodisation problems Waves of globalisation Industrial revolutions: 1780s-, 1880s-, 1970s- (steam-power, electr./engines, micro-chip) Historical layers: path depedency in combination with change of institutional and techno-economic regimes

9 Four periods Four periods of economic transformation: Formative phases (20-25 years)

10 Four periods in Swedish economic history Liberalism and early industrialisation within agriculture society the foundation era Industrial society and financial capitalism The Swedish model, mature industries and welfare economy Neo-liberalism and internationalisation within the service society

11 A relational view of the firm State Financial FFFffiF system Company (firm) Labour market Education & training

12 Financial system Institutional reforms, formalisation of the system, joint stock banks, Scandinavian Monetary Union 1873, central banking. State Liberal, company act (joint stock banks), capital import, infrastructural projects, tension in the parliament between represents for agriculture and industry. Company Natural resource-based industry and mining, export of iron, timber and saw products, railway companies, strong mechanisation, factories, merchant houses. Period Education & training Compulsary six years schooling from 1842, technical training, import of foreign skills. Labour market Custom-based, free setting of wage rates, urbanisation, working class, emigration (1.15 million people with a peak in the 1880s).

13 Lars Magnus Ericsson,

14 State Promoting growth, technological procurement, coordination of large investments, launching of social reforms. Period Financial system Corporate finance (universal banks), growing stock market, deflation crisis , mergers, Kreuger crash 1932, new banking law 1934 Company Engineering culture, inventions, cartels, strong growth in energy, pulp and paper, then electronics, chemical-technical and building and construction, from the 1920s strong rationalisation and structural transformation Labour market First unions and employers confederations (LO 1898 and SAF 1902), collective agreements, industrial cities Education & training Special institutes for technical and commercial education, taylorism, professionalisation processes

15 Shares of employment in various sectors and change in absolute numbers. Sector Absolute change Agriculture & related ,000 activities 2. Industry and craft ,000 3.Building& construction ,000 4.Transport& communication , Private services , Public services ,000 Total employment ,000

16 State Re-distributive, Swedish model, growth of public sector, regulatory regimes and support of various favoured sectors (mainly housing, infrastructure), higher taxes. Period Financial system Regulated creditbased system, stock market low importance, large bond market Company Mature multinationals, consumer-related innovations, industrial society with a growing service sector, golden age 1950s and 1960s, many successful multinational firms Labour market Saltsjöbadsavtalen, solidaristic wage policy, Swedish Labour Market Authority and Swedish Labour Market Board, increasing women participation. Education & training Senior high school, expansion in educational system, advanced technology, training programs

17 Shares of employment in various sectors , and Per cent. Sector 1931/ / /75 Agriculture and related activities Industry and craft Building/construct Transport and communication Private services Public services Total employment

18 Marcus Dodde Wallenberg,

19 State Increasing state debt and budget deficits leading to substantial depreciations , neoliberalistic policies, joining the European union in 1995, EUreforms, privatisation programs. Period Financial system Market-orientation and reregulation, financial crisis , growing stock market, markets for venture capital. Company Structural crisis and creative destruction from the mid 1970s, growth in services, increase in outward and inward foreign direct investment and M&A from the 1980s and onwards, increasing R&D, ICT-sector, biotech, change of corporate governance 21 st C. Education & training Vocational training, mass university and regional university colleges, science, innovation and technology policies. Labour market Structural crisis, activated labour authorities, labour market education system reorganised in 1986, high unemployment rate (early 1990s), then more fragmentation and differentiated wages, foreign labour, shorter labour contracts.

20 Shares of employment in various sectors , Per cent. Sector Agriculture and related activities Industry Building and construction Transport/communication Trade Private services Public services Total employment

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22 Cristina Mayville Stenbeck, 1977-

23 Annual growth in GDP/capita in Sweden. Per cent and fixed prices. Annual growth

24 GDP for Sweden , volume-index, fixed prices

25 Distribution of Business Sector Employment by Enterprise Size, Per Cent Total Sweden France Germany United Kingdom

26 Is there still a Swedish Model? Definition 1 Solidaristic Wage Policy, central negotiations (Saltsjöbaden Agreement 1938-, Rehn-Meidner Wage Bargaining Model, EFO-model) Break up in the 1970s unsuccesful re-start of Saltsjöbaden Agreement Result: No Swedish Model today

27 Definition 2 Welfare state, certain range and size of the public sector The People s Home 1930s, housing and infrastructure programmes, unemployed and women access to the labour market 1940s-, redistribution of income, transferring system, high taxes, the state plays an active role, state ownership in the business sector, public expenditure/gdp 31%-62%

28 Definition 3 Mental modes, compromise thinking, egalitarian spirit, corporatism (negotiations between business, labour, and state interest groups to establish economic policy) State is centralized but open Bureaucracy professional but not authoritarian Policies differentiated but have a central coordination Low level of corruption Close links between interest groups, trade unions, business leaders and the state (corporatism) To reach consensus in the parliament

29 Swedish Model today Yes or No? Definition 1 No Swedish Model today Definition 2 Partly Definition 3 Yes!

30 Is there a Nordic Model? Or are there two, or even four separate models? Or, the other way round: is the Nordic model only a variation of models in other European countries? Reminds of models in other parts of the world?

31 YES, there is a Nordic model of capitalism. But clear variations between the countries exist: An eastern and western dimension: Sweden- Finland vs. Norway-Denmark Or regional: southern Sweden and Denmark similar, as, Ostrobothnia in Finland and Northern part of Sweden. But also a forerunner vs. latecomer: dimension Sweden-Denmark vs. Norway-Finland

32 A Nordic Model of Welfare Economy The Nordic countries have had and still have a lot in common, culturally, politically and economically. But the Nordic Model of welfare capitalism has been challenged by globalisation, EU-reforms - weakened the power of the national states.

33 Takeaways