Low growth in Europe and persistently high unemployment raised the question whether it was the specific features of the European Social Model, which lead to these disappointing results. This paper defines the characteristics of the model, and the differences between submodels applied in...

The remarkable success of Sweden over the past 15 years has come after decades of sluggish growth, during which Sweden managed to lose its substantial lead in per-capita income. This fits to the critique that welfare cost and high taxes reduce growth and endangers competitiveness. Since that...