IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ejw/journl/v3y2006i2p210-235.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is the Swedish Welfare State A Free Lunch?

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas Bergh

Abstract

In his book _Growing Public_ (Cambridge University Press), Peter H. Lindert argues that the welfare state is a “free lunch,†i.e., has no negative effect on growth, and he uses Sweden to explain this finding, which he calls the free lunch puzzle. In this comment, I claim that Lindert misrepresents Sweden when it comes to work incentives for the poor, employment of women, and employment of the elderly, and that he does not pay sufficient attention to the many reforms undertaken in Sweden since the late 1980s. I conclude by suggesting that the surprising resilience of the Swedish welfare state can be explained by increasing economic freedom.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Bergh, 2006. "Is the Swedish Welfare State A Free Lunch?," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 3(2), pages 210-235, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:ejw:journl:v:3:y:2006:i:2:p:210-235
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://econjwatch.org/File+download/288/ejw_com_may06_bergh.pdf?mimetype=pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://econjwatch.org/329
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreas Bergh, 2004. "The Universal Welfare State: Theory and the Case of Sweden," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 52(4), pages 745-766, December.
    2. Henrekson, Magnus & Dreber, Anna, 2004. "Female Career Success: Institutions, Path Dependence and Psychology," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 574, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 25 Jan 2007.
    3. Folster, Stefan & Henrekson, Magnus, 2006. "Growth effects of government expenditure and taxation in rich countries: A reply," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 219-221, January.
    4. Folster, Stefan & Henrekson, Magnus, 1999. "Growth and the public sector: a critique of the critics," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 337-358, June.
    5. Davidsson, Per & Henrekson, Magnus, 2002. "Determinants of the Prevalence of Start-Ups and High-Growth Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 81-104, September.
    6. Peter Gordon & Lanlan Wang, 2004. "Does Economic Performance Correlate with Big Government?," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 1(2), pages 192-221, August.
    7. Christina Jonung & Inga Persson, 1993. "Women and Market Work: The Misleading Tale of Participation Rates in International Comparisons," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 7(2), pages 259-274, June.
    8. Giuseppe Carone & Herwig Immervoll & Dominique Paturot & Aino Salomäki, 2004. "Indicators of Unemployment and Low-Wage Traps: Marginal Effective Tax Rates on Employment Incomes," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 18, OECD Publishing.
    9. Peter Lindert, 2004. "Social Spending and Economic Growth," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 6-16.
    10. Agell, Jonas & Ohlsson, Henry & Thoursie, Peter Skogman, 2006. "Growth effects of government expenditure and taxation in rich countries: A comment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 211-218, January.
    11. Agell, Jonas & Lindh, Thomas & Ohlsson, Henry, 1999. "Growth and the public sector: A reply," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 359-366, June.
    12. Assar Lindbeck, 1997. "The Swedish Experiment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 1273-1319, September.
    13. Peter H. Lindert, 2003. "Why the Welfare State Looks Like a Free Lunch," NBER Working Papers 9869, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1994. "Is Inequality Harmful for Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 600-621, June.
    15. Peter H. Lindert, 2003. "Why the Welfare State Looks Like a Free Lunch," NBER Working Papers 9869, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joshua Hall & Robert Lawson, 2008. "Theory and evidence on economic freedom and economic growth: A comment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 15(18), pages 1-6.
    2. Andreas Bergh, 2006. "Work Incentives and Employment Are the Wrong Explanation of Sweden's Success," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 3(3), pages 452-460, September.
    3. Peter H. Lindert, 2006. "Second Reply to Bergh," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 3(3), pages 461-465, September.
    4. Berthold, Norbert & Brunner, Alexander, 2007. "Gibt es ein europäisches Sozialmodell?," Discussion Paper Series 100, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    5. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:15:y:2008:i:18:p:1-6 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Magnus Henrekson & Jesper Roine, 2007. "Promoting Entrepreneurship in the Welfare State," Chapters, in: David B. Audretsch & Isabel Grilo & A. Roy Thurik (ed.), Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2013. "Zur Rolle der Ökonometrie in der wissenschaftlichen Politikberatung," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 14(1-2), pages 3-30, February.
    3. Georgios Karras & Davide Furceri, 2009. "Taxes and Growth in Europe," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 7(2), pages 181-204.
    4. Divino, Jose Angelo & Maciel, Daniel T.G.N. & Sosa, Wilfredo, 2020. "Government size, composition of public spending and economic growth in Brazil," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 155-166.
    5. Peter H. Lindert, 2006. "The Welfare State Is the Wrong Target: A Reply to Bergh," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 3(2), pages 236-250, May.
    6. Diego Enrique Pinilla Rodríguez & Juan de Dios Jiménez Aguilera & Roberto Montero Granados, 2013. "Gasto público y crecimiento económico. Un estudio empírico para América Latina," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, May.
    7. Jakee, Keith & Sun, Guang-Zhen, 2005. "External habit formation and dependency in the welfare state," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 83-98, March.
    8. Beraldo, Sergio & Montolio, Daniel & Turati, Gilberto, 2009. "Healthy, educated and wealthy: A primer on the impact of public and private welfare expenditures on economic growth," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 946-956, December.
    9. Nazila Alinaghi & W. Robert Reed, 2021. "Taxes and Economic Growth in OECD Countries: A Meta-analysis," Public Finance Review, , vol. 49(1), pages 3-40, January.
    10. Andreas Bergh & Magnus Henrekson, 2011. "Government Size And Growth: A Survey And Interpretation Of The Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 872-897, December.
    11. Sara Torregrosa Hetland, 2015. "Did democracy bring redistribution? Insights from the Spanish tax system, 1960–90," European Review of Economic History, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 294-315.
    12. Alston, Lee J. & Melo, Marcus Andre & Mueller, Bernardo & Pereira, Carlos, 2013. "Changing social contracts: Beliefs and dissipative inclusion in Brazil," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 48-65.
    13. Pryor, Frederic L., 2005. "Market economic systems," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 25-46, March.
    14. Bergh, Andreas, 2006. "Explaining Welfare State Survival: The Role of Economic Freedom and Globalization," Ratio Working Papers 101, The Ratio Institute.
    15. Andreas Bergh, 2014. "Sweden and the Revival of the Capitalist Welfare State," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15717.
    16. Ding, Hong, 2012. "Unemployment and Welfare State: What do the Data Tell Us?," MPRA Paper 41921, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Berthold, Norbert & Brunner, Alexander, 2007. "Gibt es ein europäisches Sozialmodell?," Discussion Paper Series 100, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    18. Sara Torregrosa Hetland, 2014. "A fiscal revolution? Progressivity in the Spanish tax system, 1960-1990," Working Papers 2014/8, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    19. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, Victoria, 2002. "Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Fiscal Policies on Long-Run Growth," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 02-028/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 23 Apr 2003.
    20. Christoph Schaltegger & Benno Torgler, 2006. "Growth effects of public expenditure on the state and local level: evidence from a sample of rich governments," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 1181-1192.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sweden; USA; the welfare state; female employment; work incentives; economic freedom;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ejw:journl:v:3:y:2006:i:2:p:210-235. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jason Briggeman (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/edgmuus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.