By: Peer Hull Kristensen (Editor), Kari Lilja (Editor)

Paperback

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In the early 1990s the Nordic countries were considered to be in a serious situation. The costs of welfare states, generous unemployment benefits, high taxation rates, strong unions, and centralized wage bargaining were thought to be undermining their competitiveness in an age of rapid globalization. By 2005 however, they all ranked at the top of a number of performance indexes on economic competitiveness and sustainability. Citizens in the Nordic countries continue to participate in and benefit from globalization on a much wider scale than in any other similarly highly developed country, and these countries increasingly provide templates within the EU for imitation and social innovation.

This book investigates how and why welfare services, active labour market institutions, and public policies were re-combined into enabling and risk-sharing mechanisms to stimulate innovation, and how this made it possible for firms to change their work organization and pursue highly rewarding and distinctive globalization strategies. Through detailed analysis of Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, this book reveals the dynamics and transformations of their national business systems, and the emerging new patterns of interaction between firms, labour markets, and institutions. It will be valuable addition to the literature on social innovation and institutional entrepreneurship.

This is an interesting book that presents very comprehensive research on developments in business systems and firm and employee behaviour in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). It will be an important book for many researchers in international and comparative employment relations. Erling Rasmussen (Auckland Uiversity of Technology, New Zealand) Journal of Industrial Relations a marvelous collection of case studies showing how welfare policies in Nordic countries are co-evolving with increasingly open-ended, networked and continuously self-recomposing relations in the social economy. Gary Herrigel, Socio-Economic Review

Peer Hull Kristensen and Kari Lilja: Preface 1: Peer Hull Kristensen and Kari Lilja: The Co-evolution of Experimentalist Business Systems and Enabling Welfare States: Nordic Countries in Transition 2: Kari Lilja, Juha Laurila, and Raimo Lovio: Finland: Innovating the Global Positioning of Flagship Companies and Foreign Owned Subsidiaries 3: Peer Hull Kristensen, Maja Lotz, and Robson Rocha: Denmark: Tailoring Flexicurity for Changing Roles in Global Games 4: Eli Moen: Norway: Consolidating the Core of Raw Material Refinement and Integrating Peripheral Companies in Innovative Global Dynamics 5: Christer Peterson: Sweden: From Large Corporations towards Knowledge Intensive Economy 6: Peer Hull Kristensen: Developing Comprehensive, Enabling Welfare States for Offensive Experimentalist Business Practices

ISBN: 9780199655847
ISBN-10: 0199655847
Audience: Tertiary; University or College
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 328
Published: 24th May 2012
Dimensions (cm): 24.0 x 17.0  x 1.87
Weight (kg): 0.536