Developing countries, in particular the least developed ones, probably have more to learn from social policies in Europe during the early 20th century than from the elaborate welfare-state arrangements after World War II. In addition to macro­economic growth and stability, the main ambitions...

The achievements of social-welfare arrangements in Western Europe are well known: considerable income security, relatively little poverty and, in some countries, ample supply of social services. But there are also well-known weaknesses and hence considerable scope for improvement. Three types of...

Recent developments in society have generated misalignment between the welfare state and socio-economic conditions and preferences. This paper emphasis developments in the labor market and the structure, stability and preferences of the family, as well as macroeconomic changes. The latter...

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Tolerance – respecting those who are different – is arguably of particular importance in an era of globalization, where a potential for economic, social and personal development is increasingly a function of interaction with others different from oneself. We investigate whether globalization...

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Realized capital gains are typically disregarded in the study of income inequality. We show that in the case of Sweden this severely underestimates the actual increase in inequality and, in particular, top income shares during recent decades. Using micro panel data to average incomes over longer...

The cross-country correlation between social trust and income equality is well documented, but few studies examine the direction of causality. We show theoretically that by facilitating cooperation, trust may increase efficiency and lead to more equal outcomes, while the feedback from inequality...

This paper discusses a number of questions with regard to Sweden’s economic and political development: How did Sweden become rich? What explains Sweden’s high level of income equality? What were the causes of Sweden’s problems from 1970 to 1995? How is it possible that Sweden, since the...