Manpower implications of capital investment in Sweden

Sweden has made a rational approach to the manpower problems arising from the modernisation of manufacturing processes as a result of capital investment. The Swedish experience is discussed under the headings of effectiveness of investment, congruence of objectives, changes in patterns of employment, union structure and differentials.     

The Cost-Effectiveness of Lifesaving Interventions in Sweden

In this article, we discuss under what conditions an estimated cost per statistical life saved can be interpreted as an implied lifevalue. Furthermore, we state optimality conditions with respect to variation in implied lifevalues. The cost-effectiveness, together with references, are presented for 165 lifesaving interventions in Sweden. The cost-effectiveness of interventions has been found in publicly available analyses, or in some cases been calculated by us. Several of these interventions produce net savings for society. The most expensive interventions cost several hundred million SEK, or more, per life saved. To improve the comparability of the interventions, certain criteria have been used to standardize the estimates. Still, dissimilarities in the calculation of implied life values remain and the quality of the original data is in some cases uncertain. Despite this and the fact that the interventions are not a representative sample, it is nevertheless possible to conclude that implied life values vary greatly both within and between different sectors of the Swedish society, much in the same manner as in current U.S. analyses.     

Labour Market Policy and Employment Growth in Sweden

ABSTRACT: In this paper, the author outlines the Swedish employment situation and traces the history of the labour market policy it generated, from its earliest development at the turn of the century, through to the Rehn-Meidner model, and then examines the various reactions and criticisms against it. It goes on to look at the trends and developments of the labour market in the‘80s, and concludes by making a speculative analysis on if and how the labour market policy has had an effect on the participation of various sectors of the population in the labour force, and if it has influenced unemployment in the Swedish labour market.     

Governance strategy and costs: board compensation in Sweden

Shareholders are not identical, but differ in their objectives and actions. One difference is the level of delegation of the principal functions to the board, which we suggest can be observed through the level of directors’ compensation. We analyze the difference in board compensation through the concept of governance strategy and suggest two distinct categories of shareholder strategies: the company governance strategy and the financial governance strategy. These strategies create different distributions of governance costs, which we separate into principal costs and agency costs. We claim that the financial governance strategy adopts a higher level of delegation, which implies that the principal costs are assumed by the corporation and that agency costs are higher. This in turn can explain the higher compensation for the directors of the board compared to compensation under the company governance strategy. We test our hypothesis using a three-year panel of Swedish listed corporations and find that shareholders pursuing a financial governance strategy are associated with higher levels of board compensation. These findings suggest the existence of differences in governance strategies, reflected in governance costs through board compensation, among different types of shareholders in a corporation.     

Wage Linkages Between Private and Public Sectors in Sweden

Abstract. The paper examines wage linkages between private and public sectors in Sweden by means of Granger causality tests and estimation of error correction models. Wage changes in central and local governments are Granger caused by private sector wage changes. Public sector wage increases involve error correction mechanisms; the lower the relative wage in the past, the higher the current wage increases. Increases in unemployment are associated with relative wage improvements for public sector employees.     

The psychosocial work environment of district nurses in Sweden

Data were collected from a stratified sample of district nurses in the greater Stockholm area on four occasions during one year using questionnaire techniques (to assess psychosocial working conditions and social networks, and self-reported health sums); as well as physiological measurement techniques. Three groups of district nurses were compared: group A, those working independently in the 'traditional' role but outside primary health care centres; group B, those working independently in the 'traditional' role but in primary health care centres; and group C, those working in the model role as part of primary health care teams. The study focused on the effects of these different work environments on the district nurse's psychological and somatic health, and their physiological state.

The data suggested that district nurses in the primary care teams (group C) had a lower objective work load than those working in the more traditional role. Despite this, they reported a less favourable balance (ratio) of work demands to decision latitude. They reported more 'problems' and 'conflicts' at work than did the other district nurses. However, such 'problems' were diminishing during the study period, which could mean that successive adaptation to the 'new' situation was occurring. The 'conflicts', on the other hand, remained. This may indicate that despite this adaptation, the district nurses in the primary care teams were struggling with their new work roles. It points to the need for organizational support during this important change process. The district nurses in group B (traditional role but in a primary health care centre) had the highest objective work load and showed physiological reactions in terms of elevated plasma cortisol levels in the morning, high systolic blood pressure and sleep disturbances.     

Healthy lower backs in the construction industry in Sweden

This corss-sectional study exmaines the relationship between healthy lower and psychosocial and physical factors in a random sample of 1773 male construction workers. Infoamtion on lower back status, lifestyle habits, stress, psychosomatic and psychological symptoms, psychosocizal demands and resoruces and physical workload were collected by means of a postal questionnaire. Measures of psycholocial and physical factors were based on factor analysis of the data. The criterion variable 'healthy lower back' (HLB)—no lifetime history of low back pain—proved to be valid compared with an interview and a physical examination. A total of 216 workers (12%) reported HLB. The prevalance rate decreased significantly with increasing age. The prevalence rate of HLB was 6% among workers reporting high stress levels. It was postively influenced when there was a balance between demands and resoruces. A low level of physical workload also increased the prevalence rate of HLB. When age, lifestyle and physical factors were kept constant in a multivariate analysis high scores on the discretions index and low scores on eh psychosomatic, psychological and stress indices cosntributed significantly to an increase prevalence rate of HLB.     

The management of timber and related industries in Sweden

Timber is a major raw material in Sweden and legislation mostly concerned with the continued viability of the industry has been enacted. Interesting organisation structures to deal with varying circumstances have evolved.     

Scenarios for industrial relations: Sweden evolves a new consensus

The consensus approach to industrial relations has served Sweden well for 30 years in achieving industrial peace, thus enabling the economy to thrive. In recent years the consensus approach has broken down in three important areas, namely the worker funds, the law on co-determination at work and in pay negotiations. The causes of the breakdown are analysed and possible future developments are discussed with some reference to the political and economic background. The author charts the major trends and develops a number of scenarios for the future.     

Town planning in Sweden: National officials versus local politicians

With strong central government traditions, Sweden has developed goal-oriented normative planning. At urban level, such planning raises many problems. This article discusses some of these problems from the three principal aspects of planning, namely the ideological, methodological and organizational aspect. The study is based on an extensive questionnaire and oral interviews among municipal planners in leadership positions in three middle-sized municipalities, namely Borås, Umeå and Västerås. The ideological aspect is discussed with reference to restrictions on urban planning arising as a result of decisions made by private enterprises and due to the interaction between the central and municipal government. The article goes on to describe the methods planners have developed to plan for land-use, resource allocation, housing and other sectoral activities and major defects in the planning system. Finally, the article discusses various problems faced by the municipal government whose departmental organization facilitates the administration of community services but cannot adequately deal with the increasing number of planning functions which are often interdepartmental in nature.     

Immigrants' Relative Earnings in Sweden — A Cohort Analysis

Abstract. This paper examines the earnings assimilation of immigrants in Sweden by applying a quantile regression approach on pooled data during the period 1990–99. Immigrants from Nordic and Western European countries have a smaller entry earnings disadvantage and slower rate of assimilation than other groups of immigrants. For some cohorts of immigrants from European countries the initial earnings disadvantage disappears after 15–20 years in Sweden, but as non‐European immigrants suffered from very large entry earnings disadvantages, their earnings will not catch up with the earnings of natives during their first 20 years in Sweden. More recent non‐European immigrant cohorts had a larger entry earnings disadvantage than previous ones. The immigration policy, discrimination, and the economic conditions may have contributed to the decline in the earnings assimilation of non‐European immigrants.     

Explaining the influence of time budget pressure on audit quality in Sweden

This paper is aimed at explaining how time budget pressure influences audit quality in the Swedish context. A hypothesis is deduced and tested through a survey sent to Swedish auditors. The Swedish context provides a special setting since audit firms and auditors have been facing new pressures due, for example, to the removal of statutory audits for a majority of the companies in Sweden. The findings show that time budget pressure lowers the quality of audits performed by Swedish auditors, but it is not the only explanation. Audit quality is also related to other factors such as gender, position, experience, number of clients, local office size and audit firm. Thus, the model is useful for explaining the factors influencing audit quality and could be used and expanded in future studies. The study also has practical implications showing that when trading-off between audit efforts and available resources and setting time budgets for each audit assignment, audit firms should also consider the personal characteristics of the auditors.     

Hybrid Governance: The Case of Household Solid Waste Management in Sweden

Governance is hybrid to the extent that it involves diverse organizational forms, jurisdictional domains, and stakeholders across the public and private sectors. This article analyses the governance of household solid waste management in Sweden from a hybridity perspective, with the City of Helsingborg in North-Western Scania in Sweden as an example. The governance arrangements comprise municipal and company-based organizations, conflicting legislation, and long planning and investment horizons. The latter has resulted in significant innovations over the last 20 years, while changes in organizational forms, tasks, networks and jurisdictions have caused tensions in governance processes and relationships.     

Board Activities and the Denationalization of Ownership – The Case of Sweden

This article investigates the effects of a denationalization of ownership on the activities of corporate boards. A simultaneous change in investors' identity on the Swedish stock exchange and the board activities of large Swedish firms was observed during the late 90s. Drawing on the heritage hypothesis we conjectured that there could be a relationship between increased international ownership and increased board activities on firm level. The results show that board activities in terms of range of activities and engagement in the decision process increased during the 90s. No relationship was found between change in ownership identity and board activities, instead the increase in activities seemed to be a general phenomenon, while ownership change was firm specific. To explain this result a hypothesis of legitimization seeking behaviour and indirect influence of denationalization, specific to the period in question, is formulated.     

Company Performance,Corporate Governance,and CEO Compensation in Norway and Sweden

This paper examines the relationshipamong company performance, corporategovernance arrangements, and CEO compensationwithin the Scandinavian countries of Norway andSweden. Our sample consists of 224 tradedcompanies, 120 of which are from Norway and 104from Sweden. The empirical evidence fromboth Norway and Sweden reveals significantpositive relationships among board size andCEO compensation, foreign board membership andCEO compensation, and market capitalization andCEO compensation. A significant negativerelationship is found between CEO ownership andCEO compensation. In addition, no significantrelationship is found between companyperformance and CEO compensation or CEO tenureand CEO compensation, except in the case ofNorwegian firms when a change in market-to-bookperformance measure is used. Despite itslimited geographical scope, the study adds toour general understanding of internationalcorporate governance issues.     

Taxes and Quantity Constraints in a Model of Male Labour Supply in Sweden

The purpose of this study is to estimate a model of male labour supply, when agents may be subject to quantity constraints. As the data contain direct information about hours constraints, this information is used in the estimation. We also quantify the importance of such rationing for the response in the hours of work to changes in wages, income and the tax system. As it turns out, quantity constraints appear only to slightly reduce the sensitivity of the average hours of work to changes in the economic environment.     

Risk factors for neck and back pain in a working population in Sweden

The relationship between lifestyle, ergonomie and psychosocial workplace factors and musculo-skeletal pain was examined in this cross-sectional study. A total of 22180 employees undergoing screening examinations at their occupational health-care service filled in a series of questionnaires concerning their health, lifestyle and working situation. Of these 31% reported having had neck pain and 18% had seen a health professional for such pain during the previous year. Similarly, 39% reported having had back pain and 16% had seen a professional during the year. Odds ratios were calculated to estimate the relative risk of the various exposure factors. Although not eating regularly and smoking increased the risk for both neck and back pain somewhat, not exercising and consuming alcohol did not increase the risk for these musculoskeletal pains. Lifting, monotonous work tasks, vibration and uncomfortable work postures were the most important ergonomie factors (odds ratios from 1.01 to 2.95). Sitting, however, did not increase the risk for either neck or back pain. A 'poor' psychosocial work environment, as compared to a 'good' one, increased the risk for both neck and back pain (odds ratios from 1.62 to 3.01). Work content and social support were of particular relevance. Finally, a combination of a 'poor' psychosocial work environment and exposure to one of the ergonomic variables produced the highest risk factors (odds ratios from 2.42 to 3.61). Although the conclusions that may be drawn are limited by the cross-sectional nature of this study, the results seem to underscore the complex aetiology of musculoskeletal pain and especially the importance of psychosocial variables. Prevention programmes should therefore be broad-based and include psychosocial as well as ergonomic measures.     

Operational research at the National Defence Research Institute of Sweden (FOA)

This paper gives an account of an institute for applied research so as to enable comparisons to be made with other institutes: such comparisons need not be limited to defence establishments. In elaborating the methodology of the institute its local concepts are applied, a conceptualisation which has proven useful outside defence [I]. Defence methodology still creates civilian spin-off.     

Wage Setting in Sweden: An Empirical Test of a Barebones Union Model

ABSTRACT In this paper a simple monopoly union model for the Swedish economy is presented and estimated. Interest is focused on the union's objectives. The results indicate that two popular representations of union objectives — wage bill and rent maximisation — are rejected by the data. Instead, preferences are highly concave in the wage rate, with an estimated degree of relative risk aversion well above unity evaluated at sample means.