Privatizing Welfare Services : Lessons from the Swedish Experiment

Focusing on health care, education, and elderly care, Privatizing Welfare Services draws on extensive research on the consequences of introducing market-based mechanisms to deliver welfare services. Empirical evidence over the last few decades is summarized and condensed to policy lessons. How to balance equity and efficiency is a central theme. The book also addresses the challenges of financing the Swedish model of welfare services as well as the importance of management practices and public opinion. The privatization of service production has occurred despite major political controversy between two competing visions for the welfare state. Successful experiments have spread organically to neighbouring municipalities. What was done well in this process and what were the mistakes? The book addresses the fundamental economic challenges, the trends of the future, and the implications for institutional design.

Henrik Jordahl, Professor of Economics, Örebro University, Mårten Blix, Research Scholar, Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) in Stockholm, Sweden

Henrik Jordahl is Professor of Economics at Örebro University with a specialization in public economics. He also directs a research program on the service sector at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics. His research is focused on the intersection between private business and the public sector with topics such as tax-financed services, privatization, management, school quality, and voting behaviour. He earned his PhD in economics from Uppsala University and has been an external director of research at the Centre for Business and Policy Studies (SNS) in Stockholm. He is affiliated with Uppsala Centre for Fiscal Studies at Uppsala University and with the international research networks CESifo and IZA.

Mårten Blix is a research scholar at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics. He has a PhD in Economics from Stockholm University and an MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics. He has held several senior management positions, including director for the division of budget totals in the Swedish Ministry of Finance, chief economist at the Ministry of Industry, and advisor at the Swedish Central Bank; he has also worked at the European Central Bank and been secretary to the Swedish Prime Minister in the Commission on the Future Challenges of Sweden. He is frequently invited to give seminars and has been interviewed by the New York Times, The Economist, and the Süddeutsche Zeitung among others. His work is focused on understanding the effects of digitalization and the effects of technology on welfare services. His recent work includes the book Digitalization, Immigration and the Welfare State.