IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/prs/rvofce/ofce_0751-6614_1988_num_25_1_1153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

La Suède et les limites de l'État-providence

Author

Listed:
  • Yves Bourdet

Abstract

[eng] Sweden: The Limits of the Welfare State Yves Bourdet Prior to the first oil crisis the Swedish model consisted of a successful combination of an active macroeconomic and employment policy and an advanced Welfare State. Since then, the oil crises and the various shocks in the world economy have affected Sweden more than other OECD countries. This paper analyses the reasons for this. These reasons involve structural as well as policy failures. It then examines the economic policy that has been implemented since the beginning of the 1980s. Particular attention is given to the active exchange rate policy and to the fact that Sweden does not belong to the EMS. Emphasis is also placed on employment policy, which is partly responsible for the very low unemployment level — less than two percent — and the relatively well-functioning labour market. Another noticeable result of employment policy is that it has facilitated the adaptation of the Swedish economy to the new world situation. In addition, we analyse the constraints that the Welfare State puts on economic policy. We show how the advanced Welfare State and the high tax rates that it has created are responsible for the slower economic growth and for the over-indexation of wages. Finally, the various difficulties faced by the government in reforming those aspects of the Swedish model that are most damaging to the economy are briefly discussed. [fre] Avant la première crise prétrolière, on entendait par modèle suédois une combinaison heureuse entre une politique macroéconomique et de l'emploi des plus actives et un Etat-providence des plus développés. Les crises pétrolières et les différents chocs reçus par l'économie mondiale ont plus atteint la Suède que les autres pays de l'OCDE. Le présent article étudie les raisons derrière cela. Ces raisons sont principalement d'ordre structurel mais relèvent également de l'échec des politiques économiques. On examine ensuite la politique mise en œuvre depuis le début des années quatre-vingt. L'accent est plus particulièrement mis sur la politique active de gestion du taux de change et sur le fait que la Suède n'appartient pas au système monétaire européen. Une attention particulière est aussi portée à la politique de l'emploi qui explique en partie les très bons chiffres du chômage (moins de 2 % de la population active) et le bon fonctionnement du marché du travail. Un autre résultat appréciable de la politique de l'emploi est d'avoir facilité l'ajustement de l'économie suédoise à la nouvelle situation internationale. Les contraintes que l'Etat-providence fait peser sur la politique économique est un autre aspect considéré. La boulimie de l'Etat-providence et les forts taux de prélèvement obligatoire qu'elle entraîne expliquent en partie le plus faible taux de croissance de l'économie suédoise et la surindexation des salaires. En conclusion, on examine brièvement les difficultés que le gouvernement rencontre pour réformer ces pièces du modèle suédois qui créent le plus de tort à l'économie.

Suggested Citation

  • Yves Bourdet, 1988. "La Suède et les limites de l'État-providence," Revue de l'OFCE, Programme National Persée, vol. 25(1), pages 75-100.
  • Handle: RePEc:prs:rvofce:ofce_0751-6614_1988_num_25_1_1153
    DOI: 10.3406/ofce.1988.1153
    Note: DOI:10.3406/ofce.1988.1153
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3406/ofce.1988.1153
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.persee.fr/doc/ofce_0751-6614_1988_num_25_1_1153
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3406/ofce.1988.1153?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hansson, Ingemar & Stuart, Charles, 1985. "Tax revenue and the marginal cost of public funds in Sweden," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 331-353, August.
    2. Assar Lindbeck, 1988. "Consequences of the Advanced Welfare State," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 19-38, March.
    3. Carlsson, Bo A W, 1983. "Industrial Subsidies in Sweden: Macro-Economic Effects and an International Comparison," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 1-23, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items 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. Eliasson, Gunnar & Lindberg, Thomas, 1986. "Economic Growth and the Dynamics of Wage Determination: A Micro Simulation Study of the Stability Consequences of Deficient Variation in Factor Prices and Micro Structures," Working Paper Series 170, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised Aug 1988.
    2. Marcus Box & Karl Gratzer & Xiang Lin, 2020. "Destructive entrepreneurship in the small business sector: bankruptcy fraud in Sweden, 1830–2010," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 437-457, February.
    3. Tiff Macklem & David Rose & Robert Tetlow, "undated". "GOVERNMENT DEBT AND DEFICITS IN CANADA: A Macro Simulation Analysis," Staff Working Papers 95-4, Bank of Canada.
    4. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Warlters, Michael, 2012. "The marginal cost of public funds and tax reform in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 58-72.
    5. Eliasson, Gunnar & Johansson, Dan & Taymaz, Erol, 2004. "Simulating the New Economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 289-314, September.
    6. 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.
    7. Magnus Henrekson, 2005. "Entrepreneurship: a weak link in the welfare state?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 14(3), pages 437-467, June.
    8. Sandmo, Agnar, 1998. "Redistribution and the marginal cost of public funds," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 365-382, December.
    9. Mickaël Beaud & Thierry Blayac & Patrice Bougette & Soufiane Khoudmi & Philippe Mahenc & Stéphane Mussard, 2013. "Estimation du coût d'opportunité des fonds publics pour l'économie française," Working Papers halshs-01077141, HAL.
    10. Salvador Barrios & Jonathan Pycroft & Bert Saveyn, 2013. "The marginal cost of public funds in the EU: the case of labour versus green taxes," Taxation Papers 35, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    11. Charles L. Ballard & Don Fullerton, 1992. "Distortionary Taxes and the Provision of Public Goods," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 117-131, Summer.
    12. André Decoster & Sergio Perelman & Dieter Vandelannoote & Toon Vanheukelom & Gerlinde Verbist, 2015. "A bird’s eye view on 20 years of tax-benefit reforms in Belgium," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven 494657, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    13. John P. Formby & Steven G. Medema & W. James Smith, 1995. "Tax Neutrality and Social Welfare in a Comptutational General Equilibrium Framework," Public Finance Review, , vol. 23(4), pages 419-447, October.
    14. Trostel, Philip A., 1995. "The Effect of Deficit Finance on Human Capital," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 48(4), pages 531-546, December.
    15. Strand, Jon, 2009. ""Revenue management"effects related to financial flows generated by climate policy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5053, The World Bank.
    16. Can Erbil, 2004. "Trade Taxes Are Expensive," International Trade 0409002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. ERBIL Can, 2010. "Trade Taxes Are Better ?!? Short Answer: No," EcoMod2003 330700048, EcoMod.
    18. Hansson, Åsa, 2004. "Taxpayers Responsiveness to Tax Rate Changes and Implications for the Cost of Taxation," Working Papers 2004:5, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    19. Inge Mayeres, 1999. "The Distributional Impacts of Policies for the Control of Transport Externalities.An Applied General Equilibrium Model," Working Papers 1999.8, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    20. Browning, Edgar K., 1995. "Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Income and Welfare," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 48(1), pages 23-43, March.

    More about this item

    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:prs:rvofce:ofce_0751-6614_1988_num_25_1_1153. 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: Equipe PERSEE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.persee.fr/collection/ofce .

    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.