IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i20p7661-d432128.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Globalization, Work, and Health: A Nordic Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Steffen Torp

    (Department of Health, Social and Welfare Studies, University of South-Eastern Norway, N-3199 Borre, Norway)

  • Jon Reiersen

    (School of Business, University of South-Eastern Norway, N-3199 Borre, Norway)

Abstract

The Nordic countries are among the world’s leading countries in international rankings on prosperity, productivity, social equity, trust, and health. Such positive results may be linked to how these countries have organized their working life. The aim of this article is to describe core elements of the Nordic working life model (emphasizing Norway) and discuss how globalization may challenge the model, and thereby influence public health. Based on an extensive review of relevant research, we show that the Nordic working life model with a coordinated wage bargaining system between well-organized employers and employees results in productive enterprises, small wage differences, good working environments, and a high level of well-being. Global trends of liberalization of working life, increased labor migration, the platform economy, reduced unionization, and more precarious work challenge the Nordic working life model and its reliance on standard working contracts. Such a trend may result in increased inequity, reduced generalized trust, and poorer public health. Politicians and other stakeholders in the Nordic countries should cope appropriately with globalization and technological changes so that the Nordic countries will uphold their well-organized working life and good societal achievements.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen Torp & Jon Reiersen, 2020. "Globalization, Work, and Health: A Nordic Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-20, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:20:p:7661-:d:432128
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7661/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7661/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Borg, Vilhelm & Kristensen, Tage S., 2000. "Social class and self-rated health: can the gradient be explained by differences in life style or work environment?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(7), pages 1019-1030, October.
    2. Guglielmo Barone & Sauro Mocetti, 2016. "Inequality And Trust: New Evidence From Panel Data," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 794-809, April.
    3. Sonja Drobnič & Barbara Beham & Patrick Präg, 2010. "Good Job, Good Life? Working Conditions and Quality of Life in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 205-225, November.
    4. Gianluca Grimalda & Alain Trannoy & Fernando Filgueira & Karl Ove Moene, 2020. "Egalitarian redistribution in the era of hyper-globalization," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(2), pages 151-184, April.
    5. Ahonen, E.Q. & Fujishiro, K. & Cunningham, T. & Flynn, M., 2018. "Work as an inclusive part of population health inequities research and prevention," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 108(3), pages 306-311.
    6. Erling Barth & Karl Ove Moene, 2016. "The Equality Multiplier: How Wage Compression And Welfare Empowerment Interact," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(5), pages 1011-1037, October.
    7. Karl Ove Moene & Michael Wallerstein, 1995. "How Social Democracy Worked: Labor-Market Institutions," Politics & Society, , vol. 23(2), pages 185-211, June.
    8. Rodrik, Dani, 2012. "The Globalization Paradox: Why Global Markets, States, and Democracy Can't Coexist," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199652525.
    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. Paul A. Schulte & Ivo Iavicoli & Luca Fontana & Stavroula Leka & Maureen F. Dollard & Acran Salmen-Navarro & Fernanda J. Salles & Kelly P. K. Olympio & Roberto Lucchini & Marilyn Fingerhut & Francesco, 2022. "Occupational Safety and Health Staging Framework for Decent Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-28, August.

    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. Lourdes ROJAS RUBIO, 2022. "Inequality, Corruption and Support for Democracy," THEMA Working Papers 2022-20, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    2. Francesca Maria Calamunci & Federico Fabio Frattini, 2023. "When Crime Tears Communities Apart: Social Capital and Organised Crime," Working Papers 2023.08, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    3. Thomas Barnay, 2016. "Health, work and working conditions: a review of the European economic literature," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(6), pages 693-709, July.
    4. Bengtsson, Erik, 2023. "The politics of profits: Profit squeeze and political-economic change in Sweden, 1975–1985," Lund Papers in Economic History 250, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    5. Carolina Navarro & Luis Ayala & José Labeaga, 2010. "Housing deprivation and health status: evidence from Spain," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 555-582, June.
    6. Rolph Van Der Hoeven, 2014. "Full Employment Target: What Lessons for a Post-2015 Development Agenda?," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2-3), pages 161-175, July.
    7. Indra de Soysa, 2022. "Economic freedom vs. egalitarianism: An empirical test of weak & strong sustainability, 1970–2017," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 236-268, May.
    8. Beckert, Jens & Ebbinghaus, Bernhard & Hassel, Anke & Manow, Philip (ed.), 2006. "Transformationen des Kapitalismus: Festschrift für Wolfgang Streeck zum sechzigsten Geburtstag," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 57, number 57.
    9. Erling Barth & Henning Finseraas & Anders Kjelsrud & Karl O. Moene, 2021. "Does the Rise of China Lead to the Fall of European Welfare States?," Working Papers 202007, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo Business School.
    10. Cristiano Antonelli & Christophe Feder, 2022. "Knowledge properties and the creative response in the global economy: European evidence for the years 1990–2016," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 459-475, April.
    11. Meyer, S.C. & Künn-Nelen, A.C., 2014. "Do occupational demands explain the educational gradient in health?," Research Memorandum 016, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    12. Gennaro Punzo & Rosalia Castellano & Mirko Buonocore, 2018. "Job Satisfaction in the “Big Four” of Europe: Reasoning Between Feeling and Uncertainty Through CUB Models," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 205-236, August.
    13. Janelle Pötzsch, 2012. "Market and Society—Are They Really Separate Spheres?," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 50-62.
    14. Gregor Schwerhoff & Ottmar Edenhofer, 2014. "The Globalization Paradox Revisited," CESifo Working Paper Series 4878, CESifo.
    15. Wilkinson, Michael & Lokdam, Hjalte, 2018. "Law and political economy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87544, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. David, Blight, 2020. "Trends of International Migration since Post-World War II," MPRA Paper 106307, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2020.
    17. Nikitas Konstantinidis & Konstantinos Matakos & Hande Mutlu-Eren, 2019. "“Take back control”? The effects of supranational integration on party-system polarization," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 297-333, June.
    18. Elena Cottini & Claudio Lucifora, 2013. "GINI DP 86: Inequalities at work Job quality, Health and Low pay in European Workplaces," GINI Discussion Papers 86, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    19. Guzi, Martin & de Pedraza, Pablo, 2013. "A Web Survey Analysis of the Subjective Well-being of Spanish Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 7618, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Marie Astrid Garrido & Verónica Encina & María Teresa Solis-Soto & Manuel Parra & María Fernanda Bauleo & Claudia Meneses & Katja Radon, 2020. "Courses on Basic Occupational Safety and Health: A Train-the-Trainer Educational Program for Rural Areas of Latin America," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-20, March.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:20:p:7661-:d:432128. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.