IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v43y2022i4p1724-1746.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How effective are mobility subsidies in targeting the unemployed? Lessons from the Swedish Model, 1965–1975

Author

Listed:
  • Jakob Molinder

Abstract

The Swedish Model on the labor market has been celebrated as a way to combine mobility with low unemployment and small wage gaps. As part of the model, relocation allowances were pioneered from the late 1950s. The program expanded thereafter and as much as 1% of the population in the high-unemployment north moved with assistance in the 1960s. Today, migration incentives are discussed to address pressing unemployment problems in Europe and the United States. What can Sweden’s experience tell us about the prospects of such programs? This article studies the usage of relocation allowances through a case study of Västernorrland County from 1965 to 1975. The analysis shows that there was a strong selection into the program by younger persons, recent graduates and from sectors with good employment prospects. The experience from Sweden highlights the difficulty of implementing programs to induce migration for those with the highest risk of unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jakob Molinder, 2022. "How effective are mobility subsidies in targeting the unemployed? Lessons from the Swedish Model, 1965–1975," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(4), pages 1724-1746, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:4:p:1724-1746
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X211047887
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X211047887
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X211047887?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:4:p:1724-1746. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.