스웨덴의 사회정책 - 렌-마이드너 모델을 중심으로

Abstract

This paper aims at explicating the historical background and charicteristics of the Rehn-Meidner model(Henceforth, Rehn model) with a focus on the increasing policy dilemmas with which the Swedish Model is recently faced. Specifically, this paper has threefold purposes : (a) To understand Rehn models contribution to welfare system; (b) To examine its significance in welfare politics; and (c) To analyze its limits in the process of restructuring the welfare state. The Solidaristic wage policy and the Active labor market policy are two pillars which enable the social democratic party to hold the dominant power over decades after the second World War. While the Solidaristic wage policy functions to consolidate the growth coalition for the high productivity which is required to develop the high-quality welfare system, the active labor market policy protects wage earners from the perils of unemployment and job unstability. However, the policy instrument began to lose its significance and to be less functional to welfare politics in the structural transformation of capitalism and the rise of transnational pluralism in Europe. Virtually, the Rehn model has experienced the gradual decline since the first Oil Shock. The Solidaristic wage policy was actually broken down in the early 1980s and the unprecedentedly high rate of unemployment of recent years makes the active labor market policy almost obsolete. It is noticeable that the crisis of the welfare state significantly undermines the rationale of the Rehn model. This study closely examines the rise and fall of the Swedish model with an analysis of policy package of the Rehn model.