Sweden has always provided solid support for free trade (except agriculture), free immigration, and strong property rights. After World War II a succession of governments increased the welfare state and the tax burden, and Sweden's GDP per capita ranking fell from the 4th to 14th place in a few decades.[80]
Sweden started to move away from this model in the 1980s, and according to the OECD and to McKinsey, Sweden has recently been relatively fast in liberalization compared to countries such as France. Deregulation-induced competition helped Sweden to halt the economic decline and restore strong growth rates in the 2000s.[81][69] The current Swedish government is continuing the trend to pursue moderate reforms.[82][69] Growth has been higher than in many other EU-15 countries.
Since the late 1960s, Sweden has had the highest tax quota (as percentage of GDP) in the industrialized world, although today the gap has narrowed and Denmark has surpassed Sweden as the most heavily taxed country among developed countries. Sweden has a two step progressive tax scale with a municipal income tax of about 30% and an additional high-income state tax of 20–25% when a salary exceeds roughly 320,000 SEK per year. The employing company pays an additional 32% of an "employer's fee." In addition, a national VAT of 25% is added to many things bought by private citizens, with the exception of food (12% VAT), transportation, and books (6% VAT). Certain items are subject to additional taxes, e.g. electricity, petrol/diesel and alcoholic beverages. As of 2007, total tax revenue was 47.8% of GDP, the second highest tax burden among developed countries, down from 49.1% 2006.[83] Inverted tax wedge - the amount going to the service worker's wallet - is approximately 15% compared to 10% in Belgium, 30% in Ireland and 50% in United States.[80] Public sector spending amounts to 53% of the GDP. State and municipal employees total around a third of the workforce, much more than in most Western countries. Only Denmark has a larger bureaucracy (38% of Danish workforce). Spending on transfers is also high.
Eighty percent of the workforce is organized through the trade-unions which have the right to elect two representatives to the board in all Swedish companies with more than 25 employees.[84] Sweden has by far the highest amount of sick leaves per worker: the average worker loses 24 days due to sickness.[71] Swedish unemployment figures are contested in politics. Unemployment is higher amongst younger people. Because of the contradiction — unemployment despite a growing commercial enterprise economy — politicians and analysts often speak of the "jobless growth".
According to Eurostat the unemployment rate in February 2007 was at 6.7% down from 7.4% from February 2006.[85]
No new net jobs have been produced in the Swedish private sector since 1950.
None of the top 50 companies on the Stockholm stock exchange has been started since 1970.[80]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_model
The Nordic model refers to the economic and social models of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway). This particular adaptation of the mixed market economy is characterized by more generous welfare states (relative to other developed countries), which are aimed specifically at enhancing individual autonomy through providing public sector employment opportunities (especially to women), ensuring the universal provision of basic human rights and stabilizing the economy. It is distinguished from other welfare states with similar goals by its emphasis on maximizing labor force participation, promoting gender equality, egalitarian and extensive benefit levels, large magnitude of redistribution, and liberal use of expansionary fiscal policy.[1]
On the Index of Economic Freedom 2008, Denmark's rating is 11th highest of 162 countries (4th in Europe), Finland's 16th, and Sweden's 27th.[2]
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WEB RESULTS
- 264k - Adobe PDF - View as htmlTemp work rev 5.doc. Temporary Work in Turbulent Times: The Swedish Experience. by ... the 1990s is a major factor behind the rise in temporary work in Sweden. ...www.nek.uu.se/Pdf/2002wp1.pdf
- By Bertil Holmlund and Donald Storrie; Abstract: Sweden has experienced a substantial increase in temporary work over the 1990s, with most of the rise occurring during econpapers.repec.org/paper/
cesceswps/_ - Cached..5f671.htm
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http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=556142
Other Forms of Employment:
Temporary Employment Agencies and
Self-Employment
Stockholm University - Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI)
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http://www.expatexchange.com/net.cfm?networkid=103
http://www.goinglobal.com/countries/sweden/sweden_work.asp
http://
http://
http://www.eurograduate.com/planning_overview.asp?eid=1&id=21
... Job hunting in Sweden
For info on prospective employers you can use the Swedish yellow pages or the Swedish version of Kompass. Almost all the vacancies are registered with the Swedish employment service, therefore they can be of great help. The vacancies of the Swedish employment service are published on a special computer (‘platsautomat’), which is accessible in the job centres, public libraries and other public offices in Sweden, and a selection of the vacancies is published on the internet (www.amv.se). ...
