Is the Swedish Model still alive?
Ljungberg, Jonas LU
(2026)
In Lund Papers in Economic History
- Abstract
- Baumol’s cost disease is a wellknown theorem, but its consequences are rarely addressed in economic-political discourse. This paper highlights the implications of Baumol’s cost disease and shows that in real terms the once so celebrated “Swedish Model” has lost its exclusive position relative to other European countries. Even worse, since 1995 Swedish welfare services has in general lost in content when measured in constant prices. This is further aggravated when counted per capita, especially when it comes to elderly care where demands have increased with the growth of the population in higher ages.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9483ad8d-c5d9-4c18-916e-8ee302981e01
- author
- Ljungberg, Jonas
LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Är den Svenska modellen fortfarande vid liv?
- publishing date
- 2026
- type
- Working paper/Preprint
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- welfare services, constant prices, welfare state, H51, H52, H53, N34
- in
- Lund Papers in Economic History
- issue
- 263
- pages
- 13 pages
- project
- Crisis and Transformation: the rise of financialization and marketization in the late 20th century
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9483ad8d-c5d9-4c18-916e-8ee302981e01
- date added to LUP
- 2026-02-24 17:41:39
- date last changed
- 2026-04-17 07:32:36
@misc{9483ad8d-c5d9-4c18-916e-8ee302981e01,
abstract = {{Baumol’s cost disease is a wellknown theorem, but its consequences are rarely addressed in economic-political discourse. This paper highlights the implications of Baumol’s cost disease and shows that in real terms the once so celebrated “Swedish Model” has lost its exclusive position relative to other European countries. Even worse, since 1995 Swedish welfare services has in general lost in content when measured in constant prices. This is further aggravated when counted per capita, especially when it comes to elderly care where demands have increased with the growth of the population in higher ages.}},
author = {{Ljungberg, Jonas}},
keywords = {{welfare services; constant prices; welfare state; H51; H52; H53; N34}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Working Paper}},
number = {{263}},
series = {{Lund Papers in Economic History}},
title = {{Is the Swedish Model still alive?}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/243178956/LUPEH_263.pdf}},
year = {{2026}},
}