The Politics of Growth. Economic Regulation in Sweden 1930-1994

Abstract: This thesis analyzes the politics of growth, the policies that in the Swedish context have enabled and complemented socio-political strategies of redistribution as well as the development of a well organized and rather peaceful labour market. The core of the analysis is a broad overview of Swedish policies of economic growth, from the emergence of the Swedish model in the 1930s up to entering the European Union in the 1990s. The analysis focuses on the predominant forms of economic regulation, the social forces that shaped regulation, the interaction between institutional structures and social mobilization and the impact of regulation on economic growth patterns. The development of growth policy is also related to labour market regulation and social policy. It is argued that policies for economic growth evolve in interdependence with the regulation of employment and redistribution. Economic regulation influences the form and content of labour market participation and social redistribution, but these regulatory spheres in their turn structure the development of growth policy. This work builds on modern and classical macrosociology, policy analysis and regulation theory. Within these traditions, it is emphasized that the capitalist economies are intertwined with social institutions. Economic regulation varies between different countries, however. National differences in regulation can be explained by institutional trajectories, social relations, the distribution of power in society etc. These considerations form the basis of the empirical part.