Wage compression was an important goal for Swedish blue-collar trade unions during the post-war period. This was achieved during the period 1956-1982 and is credited by many due to the writings of trade union-economists Gösta Rehn and Rudolf Meidner. However some scholars question the substantial impact that is credited to the program drafted from Rehn and Meidners writings, some mean to say that the market could be equally if not sole creditable or responsible for the Swedish development of wage compression. This paper compares the development of wage compression and dispersion between Norway and Sweden during the said period in order to find out which had more impact: the market or trade union ideology? The result is two-pronged: The market forces put the terms for a similar development during the period, the Swedish wage policies put the terms for the differences.

<p>Problem: The Swedish wage-setting has changed since the time for the breakthrough of the industrialism until today. Before that, wages often consisted of perquisites or goods that could be exchanged against other goods. Rural people were often self-sufficient. In some cases the farmer owned the land, in other cases they where tenants. At the time for the breakthrough of industrialism the demand for similar labour were increased. This situation in combination with urbanization leads to an increasing demand for money as means of payment. The wage-setting runs all through the story and is important for the development of a society. The cooperation between employers and employees is important and the institutions is a great part in these game. The question is how the wage-setting has developed from the middle of 19th century until today, and what the most important elements for development are.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to describe the Swedish wagesetting between 1850-2009, from an institutional point of view, and analyse important factors for these changings.</p><p>Results: The Swedish wage-setting between 1850-2009 has gone from a situation with pure theory in the middle of the 1900 century, to a more complicated system for wage-setting in the middle of 20th century. After 1970 we can see a development towards the pure theory for wage-setting that is presented by Olivier Blanchard. Some reasons for that is the change from industrial society to service society, women are introduced on the labourmarket, globalization and an increasing competition from other countries outside Europe, and an increased public sector.</p>

Problem: The Swedish wage-setting has changed since the time for the breakthrough of the industrialism until today. Before that, wages often consisted of perquisites or goods that could be exchanged against other goods. Rural people were often self-sufficient. In some cases the farmer owned the land, in other cases they where tenants. At the time for the breakthrough of industrialism the demand for similar labour were increased. This situation in combination with urbanization leads to an increasing demand for money as means of payment. The wage-setting runs all through the story and is important for the development of a society. The cooperation between employers and employees is important and the institutions is a great part in these game. The question is how the wage-setting has developed from the middle of 19th century until today, and what the most important elements for development are. Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to describe the Swedish wagesetting between 1850-2009, from an institutional point of view, and analyse important factors for these changings. Results: The Swedish wage-setting between 1850-2009 has gone from a situation with pure theory in the middle of the 1900 century, to a more complicated system for wage-setting in the middle of 20th century. After 1970 we can see a development towards the pure theory for wage-setting that is presented by Olivier Blanchard. Some reasons for that is the change from industrial society to service society, women are introduced on the labourmarket, globalization and an increasing competition from other countries outside Europe, and an increased public sector.

The focus of this paper is based in comparative law between four countries. Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Specifically how each of them handle workplace representation, both within the field of safety/wellbeing of the employees and the field of union work. The findings within this paper is that each country have very similar rules regarding safety officers, skyddsombud in Swedish. However each country have taken their own path in the field of unions. Sweden and Finland choose to regulate the relationships between the union and employer representatives while Norway and Denmark leave it to the two to get along without interference. Denmark, Finland and Norway have basic collective agreements, while Sweden only regulate through law or the collective agreement each workplace agrees to themselves. Finland uniquely creates ways for the employees to circumvent the unions.

The Swedish labour market has developed a system were the relationship between employers and employees is in the largest extent regulated through collective agreements. A principle of the Swedish model has long been that the government should not interfere in wage setting and that the regulation on the wage settings is provided for the organisations on the labour market, however, a system of collective agreements that are generally applicable are very common in many European countries. The significance of this system is that the collective agreement is binding on all parties on the labour market which includes, both employers and employees that are members and also non-members in a trade union. A method with doctrinal and labour law in context has been used. This essay has examined how an imposition of the collective agreements with a general effect could affect the protection of workers in the Swedish model, and what kind of consequences such imposition could contribute to. Collective agreements are very important for the Swedish model and the employer has an obligation to apply conditions of collective agreements on employees that are non-members in a trade union or members in a different union. Employers who do not apply these conditions to workers can be guilty of violation of the collective agreement. In Sweden, collective agreements have a very high coverage despite the absence of collective agreements that are generally applicable. The high coverage is important because collective agreements offers workers a safer protection with more rights and opportunities to influence their workplace. In practice, it is also established that collective agreement in a workplace should be the central, and that it should have a normative effect on workers. However, the employer can bypass a few rules, which may affect workers negatively because they do not get equal rights or an equally strong protection. In order to maintain the Swedish model, a high number of trade union memberships are necessary. On the other hand, it has been shown that the number of trade union memberships has been decreased which can contribute to a diminished position on the labour market for workers and the trade unions. An adoption of collective agreements with a general effect as a complement to the system we have today would have been a good solution to include more employees. However, it can also be considered as an invasion on the Swedish model.

<p>The subject for this paper is the Class Action against Skandia Association, a civil organization formed in 2003 with the aim of claiming compensation for some 1.2 million life insurance customers. The background to its formation was one of the largest financial scandals in Sweden in recent times, involving a number of questionable affairs within the insurance corporation Skandia and its subsidiaries, most notably the life insurance company Skandia Liv. The interests of both the stake- and stockholders of the company seem, in certain ways, to have been grossly misrepresented. The scandal, as well as the reaction it spawned, pose a number of questions. In this study, we focus on two: a possible, and in many ways apparent crisis in the representation of interests in Swedish society, and the role of civil society in upholding the balance between these interests.</p><p>We argue that what is often held to be the ”greed” or ”immorality” of individuals in scandals such as Skandia is, to a great extent, a mere reflection of the ”rational” underpinnings of modern-day capitalism.</p><p>We find that trust has been a key mechanism of control in the relationships between consumers and agents in pension and life insurance markets, and that ”the Swedish model” that distinguished post-WWII Swedish society was a model heavily based on trust towards existing models of bureaucratic governance. Furthermore, the increase in social and technical complexity of the systems and relationships necessary of our individual and collective welfare, as well as the growing anonymity of the people we depend on, seem to have resulted in a gap that cannot be bridged without resorting to trust.</p><p>We also find that elements of the Skandia scandal mirror a larger societal development in which the balance between interests has been disrupted, causing severe breaches of trust. Over time, and as a result of a largely global interplay between power and discourse, the Swedish model has undergone a considerable transition, gradually transforming elements of the underlying institutional foundations of both the market and the state.</p><p>Such transitions, and the herein observed inability of both market and state to cope with them while maintaining the balance between interests of society as a whole, make us believe that the importance of a vital civil society cannot be understated. The Class Action against Skandia Association is a testament to its potential.</p>

The subject for this paper is the Class Action against Skandia Association, a civil organization formed in 2003 with the aim of claiming compensation for some 1.2 million life insurance customers. The background to its formation was one of the largest financial scandals in Sweden in recent times, involving a number of questionable affairs within the insurance corporation Skandia and its subsidiaries, most notably the life insurance company Skandia Liv. The interests of both the stake- and stockholders of the company seem, in certain ways, to have been grossly misrepresented. The scandal, as well as the reaction it spawned, pose a number of questions. In this study, we focus on two: a possible, and in many ways apparent crisis in the representation of interests in Swedish society, and the role of civil society in upholding the balance between these interests. We argue that what is often held to be the ”greed” or ”immorality” of individuals in scandals such as Skandia is, to a great extent, a mere reflection of the ”rational” underpinnings of modern-day capitalism. We find that trust has been a key mechanism of control in the relationships between consumers and agents in pension and life insurance markets, and that ”the Swedish model” that distinguished post-WWII Swedish society was a model heavily based on trust towards existing models of bureaucratic governance. Furthermore, the increase in social and technical complexity of the systems and relationships necessary of our individual and collective welfare, as well as the growing anonymity of the people we depend on, seem to have resulted in a gap that cannot be bridged without resorting to trust. We also find that elements of the Skandia scandal mirror a larger societal development in which the balance between interests has been disrupted, causing severe breaches of trust. Over time, and as a result of a largely global interplay between power and discourse, the Swedish model has undergone a considerable transition, gradually transforming elements of the underlying institutional foundations of both the market and the state. Such transitions, and the herein observed inability of both market and state to cope with them while maintaining the balance between interests of society as a whole, make us believe that the importance of a vital civil society cannot be understated. The Class Action against Skandia Association is a testament to its potential.

Den Svenska modellen har gått från en omfattande lagregleringsreform på 70-talet, till ett stadigt tillstånd där bland annat rättigheter så som förenings- och förhandlingsrätt, rätten till information samt fredsplikt skyddas genom kollektivavtal. Sveriges medlemskap i Europeiska unionen innebär att staten har överfört beslutsmakt till unionen och dess institutioner, vilket gör att unionen har en överstatlig karaktär där unionsrätten går före nationell rätt vid en konfliktsituation. Genom Sveriges medlemskap i Europeiska unionen har den Svenska modellen och framför allt kollektivavtalens ställning fått en annan betydelse. En av orsaken till detta att de svenska kollektivavtalen inte uppfyller unionens krav vid implementering av direktiv, då direktiven skall omfatta alla arbetstagare och arbetsgivare. Kollektivavtalen i Sverige binder endast de parter som avtalet är slutet mellan. Då kollektivavtalen inte kan användas som ett implementeringsinstrument måste Sverige implementera direktiv från unionen genom lagstiftning, som då inbegriper alla parter på arbetsmarknaden. Det medför en ökad lagstiftningsprocess, som innebär att beslutsbefogenheterna tas från arbetsmarknadsparterna och ges till staten. Inom många länder i Europa används så kallade allmängiltiga kollektivavtal. Dessa kollektivavtal förklaras allmängiltiga av en myndighet i berört land, och inbegriper alla på arbetsmarknaden inom exempelvis en region. Denna typ av kollektivavtal återfinns inte Sverige. Det är dock en av mina slutsatser i denna uppsats, att använda sig av allmängiltiga kollektivavtal i Sverige skulle kunna innebära en upprätthållning av den Svenska modellen och kollektivavtalens status.

Introduction People want to believe that they make their own choices and have freedom of thought even if social constructionists say that the self is created by power relations and discourses which are also created by power. The regime of truth serves power interest and pervades discourses.  Since our thoughts are managed by discourse, the regime of truth is ascribing us our life goals. It is pronounced that capitalism is our current regime of truth and thus permeates our society in all kinds of areas. Since it is taken-for-granted people is unaware of it; it is normalized to the further most possible extent.  We want to increase understandings of how Swedish students of business and economics are influenced by capitalism as the current regime of truth. Theory Base of the thesis is the concept of regime of truth, its control of discourses and the inseparable relation of power and knowledge. We define capitalism trough classical writers as Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes. We follow up with a presentation of the Swedish model and education in order to get the socialistic background of Sweden together with the impact of education system. Method As starting point we use social constructionism when conducting a discourse analysis on the accounts gathered from fourteen interviews of business students from Växjö University, Sweden. Result When taking our findings into account, the complex mixture of discourses dominated by capitalism, together with the importance of income, revenue and costs in all kinds of areas in our civilization, we must pronounce that capitalism, perhaps together with individualism and socialism, are permeating our society to that extent that we perhaps speak of it as a regime of truth.

<p><strong>Introduction </strong>People want to believe that they make their own choices and have freedom of thought even if social constructionists say that the self is created by power relations and discourses which are also created by power. The regime of truth serves power interest and pervades discourses.  Since our thoughts are managed by discourse, the regime of truth is ascribing us our life goals. It is pronounced that capitalism is our current regime of truth and thus permeates our society in all kinds of areas. Since it is taken-for-granted people is unaware of it; it is normalized to the further most possible extent.  We want to increase understandings of how Swedish students of business and economics are influenced by capitalism as the current regime of truth.</p><p><strong>Theory </strong>Base of the thesis is the concept of regime of truth, its control of discourses and the inseparable relation of power and knowledge. We define capitalism trough classical writers as Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes. We follow up with a presentation of the Swedish model and education in order to get the socialistic background of Sweden together with the impact of education system.</p><p><strong>Method</strong> As starting point we use social constructionism when conducting a discourse analysis on the accounts gathered from fourteen interviews of business students from Växjö University, Sweden.</p><p><strong>Result </strong>When taking our findings into account, the complex mixture of discourses dominated by capitalism, together with the importance of income, revenue and costs in all kinds of areas in our civilization, we must pronounce that capitalism, perhaps together with individualism and socialism, are permeating our society to that extent that we perhaps speak of it as a regime of truth. </p>