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Farewell flexicurity? Danish flexicurity and the crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Bredgaard

    (Aalborg University, Centre for Labour Market Research, Denmark)

  • Per Kongshøj Madsen

    (Aalborg University, Centre for Labour Market Research, Denmark)

Abstract

Before the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, flexicurity topped the European labour market and social policy agenda. It was acclaimed for combining the flexibility of liberal labour markets with the security of social welfare states, thereby offering a viable formula for success in the new global economy. Nowhere was this better exemplified than in Denmark, with the Danish system repeatedly highlighted as a good example of flexicurity in action. In this article, we revisit the flexicurity concept, assessing how the Danish labour market came through the crisis. We argue that the economic crisis and especially political reforms of the unemployment insurance system have challenged the institutional complementarities of flexicurity, but that the Danish labour market is recovering and adapting to new challenges. The Danish case illustrates that institutional complementarities between flexibility and security are fragile and liable to disintegrate if the institutions providing flexicurity are not maintained and supported.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Bredgaard & Per Kongshøj Madsen, 2018. "Farewell flexicurity? Danish flexicurity and the crisis," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 24(4), pages 375-386, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:24:y:2018:i:4:p:375-386
    DOI: 10.1177/1024258918768613
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. van Ours, Jan C., 2015. "The Great Recession was not so Great," CEPR Discussion Papers 10376, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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    6. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107679566.
    7. van Ours, Jan C., 2015. "The Great Recession was not so great," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-12.
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    Cited by:

    1. Barry Eichengreen, 2023. "The Danish problem," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(3), pages 781-794, October.

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