Documents Scandinavia 254 results

"This policy brief presents ten key messages for designing and implementing a just green transition in the Nordic Region. Based on findings from the EnIGG and NJUST research projects (2021–2025), the policy brief summarises research and analysis on the social and regional impacts of climate policies, public perceptions, and political feasibility. It highlights the importance of fairness, inclusion, and place-based approaches to maintain public support and avoid reinforcing existing inequalities.

The ten key messages outlined in the policy brief include:

Climate worry outweighs green transition concerns across the Nordics
Many Nordic people expect the green transition to bring benefits
Climate communication should spark hope, especially among young people
Inclusive stakeholder engagement can improve climate policy design and public legitimacy
Emissions reductions are technically feasible but politically challenging
Perceived local and household impacts influence climate policy support
Survey results indicate public support for stronger climate action, even if it means higher taxes
Place-based policies are key to avoid deepening regional inequalities
Job quality and inclusive skills development are important to sustain public support
The Nordic Toolbox offers practical guidance for delivering a just green transition"

"The topic of statutory minimum wage has gained new relevance in the recent years, also at European level. Most European countries already have schemes for statutory minimum wage, while this has been an alien concept in the Nordic context. The report provides an overview of the designs and effects of such schemes, and of how minimum wages are determined in the Nordic countries and in the few other EU countries that still have no statutory minimum wage. The report also looks into factors that can explain the diverse views on statutory minimum wage regulation and why Nordic trade unions have offered resistance towards European initiatives in this area."

"This report outlines how the authorities in the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, carry out their inspections of the psychosocial working environment at the enterprises. Starting out with a description of the psychosocial risks, the report proceeds with a comparison of the differences between the different national regulations as well as an outline of the similarities. The report offers a comparison of the Nordic working environment strategies and a detailed presentation of the different targets and areas of initiative. It also presents how different methods are used in the selection of enterprises, sectors and job groups for inspection and how the inspectors are trained to carry out the inspections. The report rounds off with a description of the different national inspection methods and how to measure their effects."

"Après la grande crise du début des années 1990, les pays nordiques ont réformé leur modèle et ont rapidement retrouvé la croissance. Champions de l'efficacité économique comme de l'équité dans les années 2000, ils ont également bien résisté à la crise économique après 2008. Ces deux crises étaient dues à des échecs en matière de politique économique et financière et non à un modèle social. Dans les années 1990, de grands changements ont été décidés pour coordonner les politiques économiques et les salaires, sauf au Danemark, où les dévaluations ont favorisé les exportations et donc la reprise économique. En consolidant leurs budgets et en redynamisant leur demande intérieure, les pays nordiques ont investi dans des politiques d'éducation et d'emploi pour préserver leur modèle social. Les politiques d'activation ont le plus souvent pu perdurer, à certaines conditions, le taux de chômage a plongé et les inégalités sont restées limitées. Fortement touchés par la crise de 2008, les pays nordiques ont pu poursuivre des politiques légèrement contra-cycliques et se redresser grâce aux réformes mises en œuvre avant la crise et à des finances publiques solides. Hors de la zone euro, la Suède et la Norvège ont, elles, tiré profit de dévaluations décidées dès le début de la crise. La Finlande et le Danemark ont subi des périodes de déclin plus importantes – le Danemark en raison de l'éclatement de sa bulle spéculative –, mais tous les pays nordiques, à l'exception de la Finlande, s'acheminaient vers une reprise en 2014. Cependant, une certaine instabilité politique, le vieillissement et la plus grande diversité de la population ainsi que la hausse du taux de chômage ont suscité de nouvelles incertitudes quant à la façon dont les pays nordiques devront adapter leur modèle social dans le futur."

"One of the special features of the Nordic countries is that the determination of wages and working conditions is largely left up to the negotiations between the social partners.
The purpose of this report is to illuminate a number of the challenges faced by the labour-law systems of the Nordic countries in the light of an increasingly well-developed European law system.
The first part of the report was prepared by Dr. Jur. Jens Kristiansen, the editor-in-chief, and focuses on a number of the general challenges facing the labour-law systems of the Nordic countries in the form of European rules and court decisions.
The second part of the report was prepared by various representatives of employer and employee organisations in the Nordic countries and illustrates some of the challenges faced by the social partners in their interaction with the European court system and the way in which these challenges have been addressed in the individual countries."

"Using survey data collected in 2010-2011, this article examines patterns of lock-in among employees in the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish labour markets. Workers are defined as locked-in if they have considerable difficulty in finding an equally good job with some other employer. Empirically we measure the concept by means of the employees' own assessment of their labour market prospects. Our results indicate that lock-in is a matter of the interplay between employers and employees. The proportion of those locked-in is lower in Norway - with its higher demand for labour and lower levels of unemployment - than in Finland and Sweden. Young age and good health are associated with relatively optimistic views of job prospects, probably because these attributes impact on the ability to adapt to the demand for labour and because employers tend to be cautious about hiring older workers and those with health problems. The most significant obstacles to finding another job reported by the respondents are the labour market conditions in their place of residence or within commuting distance and their age."

"The Nordic welfare states are facing new challenges in an increasingly globalised world. Fiercer competition has underlined the need for the Nordics to enhance competitiveness – and to support and nurse growth in industry and businesses.

This report presents the key findings and policy recommendations of the project “Nordic Growth Sectors.” Having identified growth companies in the Nordics, the project analyses growth drivers, the match between supply and demand of labour, the work environment in the companies, and growth and other companies' perceptions of existing framework conditions and improvement needs.



Based on the analyses and on a Nordic Policy Forum held in Copenhagen with participation of policymakers from the central administrations, labour market organisations, universities and growth companies, a set of policy reccommendations are developed, the most important of which are to:



Introduce more flexible retirement schemes

Deminish international recruitment red tape

Prepare graduates better for employment

Create national work environment “barometers”

Introduce more flexible child care facilities

Carry out cost-benefit analysis of complex regulation"