IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecaffa/v45y2025i1p27-44.html

What Sweden thinks about markets, capitalism and the rich

Author

Listed:
  • Anders Ydstedt
  • Rainer Zitelmann

Abstract

Attitudes towards the rich are far more positive in Sweden than in France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. Attitudes towards the market economy are also more positive in Sweden than in all other European countries, except Poland. Although Sweden is perceived by some as a model of ‘democratic socialism’, it has been 50 years since that this was – almost – the case. Today, Sweden is one of the ten most economically free countries in the world, although income tax is still above average. Corporate taxes are moderate, however, and inheritance, gift, and wealth taxes have been abolished. This article presents the findings of two surveys conducted by Ipsos MORI in Sweden. The first survey focused on perceptions of the rich, the second explored attitudes towards the market economy and capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Anders Ydstedt & Rainer Zitelmann, 2025. "What Sweden thinks about markets, capitalism and the rich," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 27-44, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecaffa:v:45:y:2025:i:1:p:27-44
    DOI: 10.1111/ecaf.12684
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.12684
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ecaf.12684?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rainer Zitelmann, 2023. "Attitudes towards capitalism in 34 countries on five continents," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 353-371, October.
    2. Rainer Zitelmann, 2024. "Popular perceptions of the rich in 13 countries," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 363-373, June.
    3. Ulf Jakobsson & Magnus Henrekson, 2001. "Where Schumpeter was nearly right - the Swedish model and Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 331-358.
    4. Rainer Zitelmann, 2021. "Attitudes to wealth in seven countries: The Social Envy Coefficient and the Rich Sentiment Index," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 211-224, June.
    5. Rainer Zitelmann, 2020. "Upward classism: Prejudice and stereotyping against the wealthy," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 162-179, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rainer Zitelmann, 2024. "Popular perceptions of the rich in 13 countries," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 363-373, June.
    2. Axel Kaiser & Rainer Zitelmann, 2024. "Moving to the Left: what people in Chile think of capitalism and the rich," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 139-153, February.
    3. Rainer Zitelmann, 2022. "Attitudes towards the rich in China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 210-224, June.
    4. Martin Andersson & Johan P. Larsson, 2022. "Historical local industry structure, voting patterns and the long-run entrepreneurial character of regions: Swedish examples," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(3), pages 611-631, December.
    5. Stenkula Mikael, 2014. "Swedish Taxation in a 150-year Perspective," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2014(2), pages 10-42, November.
    6. Karl Wennberg, 2020. "Towards an innovative entrepreneurship policy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 587-590, April.
    7. Murat Çokgezen, 2026. "The attitude of the Turkish population towards markets, wealth and capitalism," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 115-131, February.
    8. Johan Eklund, 2010. "Q-theory of investment and earnings retentions—evidence from Scandinavia," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 793-813, December.
    9. Goldfarb, Brent & Henrekson, Magnus, 2001. "Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Policies towards the Commercialization of University Intellectual Property," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 463, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 26 May 2002.
    10. Rainer Zitelmann, 2023. "Attitudes towards capitalism in 34 countries on five continents," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 353-371, October.
    11. McKelvey, Maureen & Alm, Hakan & Riccaboni, Massimo, 2003. "Does co-location matter for formal knowledge collaboration in the Swedish biotechnology-pharmaceutical sector?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 483-501, March.
    12. Magnus Henrekson & Jesper Roine, 2007. "Promoting Entrepreneurship in the Welfare State," Chapters, in: David B. Audretsch & Isabel Grilo & A. Roy Thurik (ed.), Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Livingston Michael A., 2016. "The Nordic model of taxation and its influence in North America: Image and Reality," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2016(2), pages 77-86, November.
    14. Assar Lindbeck, 2003. "An Essay on Welfare State Dynamics," CESifo Working Paper Series 976, CESifo.
    15. Zoltan J. Acs & David Audretsch & Ronnie J. Phillips & Sameeksha Desai, 2007. "The Entrepreneurship-Philanthropy Nexus: Nonmarket Source of American Entrepreneurial Capitalism," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2007-09, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    16. Henrekson Magnus, 2017. "Taxation of Swedish Firm Owners: The Great Reversal from the 1970s to the 2010s," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2017(1), pages 26-46, January.
    17. Olof Ejermo & Karin Bergman, 2014. "Services vs. Manufacturing – How Does Foreign and Domestic Sales Impact on Their R&D?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 367-391, September.
    18. Bergman, Karin & Ejermo, Olof, 2011. "Swedish Business R&D and its Export Dependence," Working Papers 2011:26, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    19. Niklas Elert & Dan Johansson & Mikael Stenkula & Niklas Wykman, 2023. "The evolution of owner-entrepreneurs’ taxation: five tax regimes over a 160-year period," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 517-540, April.
    20. Du Rietz, Gunnar & Johansson, Dan & Stenkula, Mikael, 2014. "A 150-year Perspective on Swedish Capital Income Taxation," Working Papers 2014:2, Örebro University, School of Business.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:ecaffa:v:45:y:2025:i:1:p:27-44. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0265-0665 .

    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.